On The Winds of Your Desire
by ZooTycoon223
Summary: Sometimes the last thing you think you need is what you were looking for all along. It takes a good jarring look at your life and the ways others around you have changed to make you reconsider something. Even more serious is the reactions from people who prefer to keep things status quo. Can you grin and bear it, or will you crack under the pressure? Danny/Dash
1. Prologue

My friends had recently been responsible for the rekindled desire to relive my childhood. I always liked Danny Phantom as a child, but like other shows they used to air, I never really appreciated them like I do now. I also never shipped in them like I do not, but that's another story, or, is it?

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Danny Phantom or its characters, setting, etc. We won't get into the discussion of if I did, for it may cause controversial arguments.

MOST IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW AS YOU GO INTO THIS STORY: This fanfiction was written under the basis of disregarding the finale, Phantom Planet. If you try reading this with the finale in mind, you may a bit thrown off.

On that note, Enjoy!

* * *

The summer went by as quickly as it had come, between the disaster at camp, the visit from Dani, and various other incidents involving meddling ectoplasmic beings. The genuine dread of the start of the school year overcame the teenagers quickly, and it could be felt in the halls of Casper High. It wasn't so much a depressing atmosphere; it was more of a somber, unenthusiastic one. No one seemed happy to be back in school, the groups of friends gathered in the halls didn't laugh, didn't even smile, it just felt very unenthused. But like the year before it, this year was bound to fly by. As sophomores, Danny and his friends weren't on the bottom of the barrel anymore, but they still didn't matter in the eyes of the student body. Even the ghosts that plagued the sleepy city took the liberty to give up antagonizing the town for the most part. The lack of ghost attacks was astounding, the longest dry spell Danny had ever seen. Even a trip to the Ghost Zone didn't stir up his usual ghost rivals. They would acknowledge him with an angry scowl or a death glare, but no words, no threats came. Danny and his friends we dumbfounded. At the same time, they weren't about to complain. Danny, being naturally gifted, even just a little bit, was able to get decent grades in school for once; he and his friends got the opportunity to enjoy the life that a normal teenager would. September came and went, and the weather got colder. The leaves changed, and the mood did too. It seemed that slowly, very slowly, the students didn't mind being in school. Everyone seemed uplifted. October came, and naturally Halloween was an invitation for the ghosts to play. Danny, Sam and Tucker were more than happy to play back, missing their regular encounters with the creatures from beyond the portal. November came, and the leaves fell, as did the temperatures. It wasn't hard to tell that winter was going to be cold and harsh this year. And it was, especially as the month came to a close. The calendar year ended with Danny and Sam, who had been able to admit some feelings for each other, deciding to stay friends. They both agreed that while there was something more, it wouldn't be worth it to try anything and risk their friendship. Tucker, being the wiseass he is, made a joke about it being like a brother and sister dating each other, much to the chagrin of his friends. The student body, who had taken great enjoyment in antagonizing the pair about their relationship, had seemed to notice this decision, picked up on it like vultures catch the scent of decaying flesh. Fortunately no rumours had arisen from it, which was surprising considering how quick the teens were to spread gossip.

As the new year began, the school was downright optimistic. The solace of knowing that the summer was only five months away motivated them. It was hard to believe, considering this was a high school, that teenagers could be so willing to work, and actually not complain about it. January and February flew by, and March sat well with everyone. April came, and it brought the sun, warmth and increased temperatures. The flowers began to pop up from their slumber beneath the surface, the trees budded, and a breath of relief blanketed the town as winter jackets, heavy boots and snow shovels could finally be put away for the time being. April vacation, spring break if you will, was welcome with open arms and huge cheers, from student and faculty alike. Granted, the parents were less than thrilled, but everyone in life can't always get their way. Danny, Jazz and their parents, as well as Sam and Tucker, took a weeklong trip to Florida. Despite the occasional mishap, the tropical weather and new, refreshing change of scenery was much needed, and the trip overall was pleasant.

After spring break, the teachers realized they needed to kick it into high gear. Assignments, tests, projects, all of them were assigned liberally. Naturally kids were less than enthusiastic about this, but despite the whining that a few of the more problematic students did, no one really had any serious problems, doing the work no matter how much they didn't want to. April ended in no time, and May seemed like a blink of the eye. June came, and that meant finals were here. Kids crammed, studied their asses off, and they made sure they could finish the tests as quickly as possible, in order to start their summer as soon as they could.

The summer itself was actually very anticlimactic for Danny. He was a bit shocked when he learned that Sam and Tucker had started dating, but at the same time he could honestly say he was not surprised at all. Like they say, opposites attract. It did feel him feeling like the third wheel, but his friends were understanding and courteous enough to keep the affectionate behavior for when Danny wasn't around. The big shock of the summer was that Paulina, the girl he had eyed for the entirety of his freshman year, had asked him to go on a date with her. He was extremely close to saying yes, but to everyone's' surprise he said 'No'. Paulina was more angry than upset, and vowed to make his life miserable. He couldn't say he was intimidated by her threat, in fact he was pretty unfazed by them. Of course, she never really lived up to her words, but the looks on Sam and Tuckers' faces when he told them he said 'No' was priceless. Other than that though, the summer was uneventful to the point of dragging on.

When the school year started, Danny was actually glad. He had had it with sitting around while his two only friends were off being a couple, having fun and doing whatever it is couples do, which Danny didn't exactly have any idea about. That first morning he sat down at the desk, eyes set on staring at the wall in front of him. His mind drifted to other thoughts, and the wall blurred, the ticking from the clock became distorted, fuzzy. He could make out figures shuffling into the room, each one struck once again by the first day blues. It wasn't until the teacher slammed the classroom door shut that he was snapped back into reality.

The first month continued like that. Danny would stop and see Sam and Tucker, who thankfully weren't extremely lovey-dovey in public, talk to them for a few minutes, and then aimlessly wander to his classes, where he would do the work assigned and spend his free time gazing into nothingness, mind more focused on other thoughts than his actual grades. It was a shock that he had managed a B average with his inability to focus. Even the ghosts that reared their ugly heads made comments about his distractedness, but were silenced quickly with a blast from the thermos.

Once October hit, Danny had more trouble staying focused than Tucker at a technology exposition, and his teachers picked up on it. It had reached a pointed where he didn't even bother to complete his work. His grades plummeted, and his parents became concerned. He reassured them that he was alright, and the he would try harder to pick his grades up and work harder in school. He barely managed to scrape up passing grades, and as the months passed, he became increasingly disconnected from society. It reached a point where all he would do was go to school, go home and sit around. Sam and Tucker would call, knock on his door, but he just ignored them. It wasn't that he wanted to; truth is he longed to see his friends, but he couldn't do it. There was just a part of him that couldn't take seeing his friends so happy, both individually and as a couple, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was jealous. He longed for that kind of relationship, to not feel left out.

Christmas, a time he was never enamored with, felt even more depressing. Jazz felt the most concern for her little brother, seeing him slowly fall into a pit that he would not be able to crawl out of. As the end of December crept up, Danny's mood got dragged down. There was no happy new year for him, just another day filled with, well nothingness. The winter sulked by, and by April the rain was a perfect metaphor for his emotions. The skies opened up and poured, record rainfalls covered the entire region. But as spring break appeared on the horizon, the weather cleared up. Unfortunately, Danny's mood remained, well downright miserable. On the last day of school before vacation, he couldn't even bring himself to crawl out of bed, so he faked sickness and called out of school, and spend the beautiful day curled up in his bed, lights off, curtains closed, draped in darkness.

* * *

I really don't ever have anything to type down here, which I apologize for. I also apologize for this as a whole.

I'm sorry.


	2. Clocks

The last five minutes of school felt agonizingly long, each tick of the clock felt like a year off the collective lives of the students and faculty. When the bell rang, the hallways erupted with voices, cheers and conversations, accented by the squeak of shoes colliding with the linoleum floors, metal lockers being slammed shut, cell phones beeping, trying to squeeze in a last minute plan. Sam met Tucker at her locker, giving him a mixed look. She opened her mouth, but paused.

"I'm worried about Danny." She finally managed to say. Of course she was worried about him, they were like siblings. They shared a connection, much like the ones people say two twins share. It was for that reason that she somehow felt responsible for this.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Sam, this is Danny we're talking about." Tucker said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as she shut her locker. He knew she felt bad, but he couldn't agree that their getting together had caused this. After all, it was Danny's idea for the two to stay friends.

Sam let out a sigh, easing a bit, feeling her tension melt away. Tucker's personality was so reassuring; it made even the bleakest situations seem like mere pebbles to step over in the path of life. She had to admit, maybe her quickness to ease up around him meant they were less likely to take action, but she always felt so anxious around Danny, even when his spirits were high. It was so nice to finally be able to silence the nagging voice in the back of her head, and damn it, she was going to enjoy this vacation.

"But still, maybe we should at least go check on him?"

"And what good will come of it? He didn't answer the last half dozen times we tried."

"I suppose that you're right, but what if he just wants someone to talk to?"

"Look, Sam, it's nice that you care about him, I do too, but if we bother him, we'll just make it worse", Tucker paused, thinking. He looked at her and smiled, thoughtfully, "Besides, I'm sure all he needs is a week off to get him back to his old self."

There was that smile again, and despite her best efforts, Sam felt herself agreeing.

"Yeah, alright. So what SHOULD we do then?" Sam eyed her boyfriend, waiting for his suggestions to pour out. He chuckled, surprised at how quickly her mood could change sometimes.

The clock read 3:45pm. Danny was still shut up in his room, deep in thought. He couldn't understand why seeing his friends so happy as a couple made him so torn up inside. It wasn't that he felt something more, not for Sam, not for either of them really. It was more of what they together represented. Danny was jealous, not of their relationship, but of the relationship itself. He longed for someone; he wanted more than just his two best friends. He could've possibly had it with Paulina, but after two years of being ignored by her, he realized that he truly didn't feel anything for her, indifference at the most. He grabbed a pillow, bunching it in his clenched fist. With a violent jerk, he flung it against a wall, which it bounced off of, doing nothing more than flop to the floor. He fell back onto his bed and let out a groan. On the bright side, if there was one, he would have a school free week to begin digging deep into the roots of his emotional instability. When we awoke again, the clock read 9:30pm. The red numbers glowed, intensified by the sheer blackness of the room. He glared at the clock through barely opened eyes. Falling asleep had made him even more irritable, his head ached, and he still felt emotionally exhausted. He couldn't do this, he couldn't lie in bed for a week, he had to do something to take his mind off the swirling typhoon inside his brain.

Sam was awoken by her phone ringing. Without even opening her eyes, she groped for it on the bedside table. Cracking her left eye open, she saw the time, 9:15am. Both eyes opened fully when she saw who it was. Without missing a beat, she answered it.

"Hello?"

"H..hey Sam."

"Danny! Tucker and I have been worried sick about you."

"That's nice, I'm sorry I made you worry."

"Hey, hey, don't apologize. So what's up?"

"Um, not a lot really."

"Oh. So, uh, do you maybe want to hang out with me and Tucker?" Sam heard him make a stuttering noise on the other end; she must've caught him off guard. She remembered that part of it was their fault, and she started to feel bad.

"I guess it couldn't hurt. It'll be like old times, right?"

"You make it seem like we haven't seen each other in years." She heard Danny chuckle on the other end and it make her feel a bit relieved.

"So how about we meet at the Nasty Burger around noon?"

"Sure, I'll tell Tucker and we'll meet you there."

"Alright, bye Sam."

"Bye Danny." Sam sighed as she hung up the phone. Part her felt like this was going to end up in disaster, but the newer, more optimistic part of her did its best to convince her it would all work out.

Noon came quickly, and soon the trio was sitting it their usual spot. They had just gotten their food and sat down.

"You know," Tucker started, "This feels good, just like old times."

"That's what Danny said when he called this morning. You act like you haven't hung out since middle school."

For the first time in what truly did feel like forever, the three teens were together, laughing, smiling, and picking on each other again. Then something happened. It's hard to know where exactly it happened, or what specifically had caused it, although it's more of a combination of events. It started with an overly affectionate couple claiming the table directly across from them, passing up questionable fast food for what would best be classified as a public make out session. Both Sam and Tucker could see Danny get uncomfortable, a little antsy. It got worse when a group of football players from their school started throwing comments about how Danny was just a third wheel, a cock block, dead weight. Danny was getting visibly upset, which was just what the jocks wanted. Sam knew this would happen, she should've listened to herself, this always happened when she didn't. She cursed under her breath as she pushed Tucker out of the booth, grabbed Danny out of his seat, and brought the two of them outside.

"Danny, I'm so sorry. I should've known that…" Sam tried to apologize, but Danny raised his hand, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"Sam, just, just forget it. I knew this was a bad idea, I should've just stayed home."

Danny began to walk the other way, but his friends protested, grabbing onto his shoulders. He phased his shoulders through their hands, and broke into a sprint, hell-bent on getting back home and out of public as soon as possible.

"Worst vacation, ever." Danny muttered. Then he realized, the vacation had just started, he still had a week to suffer through, and suffer he did.

After that, the weekend went by without a hitch. Sam tried to get a hold of Danny, and boy was she persistent. Short of bursting through his wall, she tried her best to talk to him. Even Tucker called once or twice, but Danny was convinced that Sam had made him. By Tuesday he realized just what had set him off. That feeling of being alone, that feeling of living alone, dying alone. He hated that feeling, the feeling of not having someone to call his, to spend time with, do the intimate activities that couples are known for. Part of him was relieved that it wasn't because of his friends, but then he realized just how much worse that made it. His high school was very loose about enforcing rules about public displays of affection. Going back to school would be like a giant 'Fuck You'. Danny always felt that there was someone out there for him, he even had someone in mind, but he knew that there was no way in hell that the other person would be interested in a relationship. He took a minute to think about the person in question, shuddering when he thought about what they may do to him is he came clean about his feelings. He let out a groan, at this rate he felt he would end up miserable and alone forever.

Of course, Danny wasn't the only one who realized he was lonely. It took Sam a whole of maybe 27 minutes after the incident on Saturday to realize Danny was lonely, and loneliness was a powerful emotion to play with. Of course she was relieved that it wasn't strictly her and Tucker's fault, but at the same time she was at a loss. She had no way of helping Danny, and she knew that as long as she and Tucker were a couple, which she hoped would be a long time, there was no way the three of them could hang out together.


	3. Insincere

Danny somehow muddled through just about the entire week, wondering if anybody actually knew how he felt. While he severely doubted it, there were, in fact, other lonely, desperate teenagers in his town. If only he knew the half of it.

Popularity is founded on lies. Most people who have even a bit know that the popular clique never really likes each other. The only reason most of them put up with each other is to maintain their own image. But when you aren't truly happy in that kind of image, what does it really matter? Dash asked himself that every day. What good was it to hang around people when no one gave a shit about each other's wellbeing? The only real friend he had was Kwan, who was pretty much in the same situation, albeit with less hopelessness and despair. Dash envied his friend's ability to always remain positive, despite hate 95% of the people he associated with on a daily basis.

It all started a few months back. Dash got suspended for punching a kid in the face. When the principal called up his mother, and she asked to speak to her son, he thought he knew what was coming. He expected punishment, yelling, anything that showed her anger, but he didn't get any of that. She didn't reprimand him in any way, she didn't ground him, didn't confiscate a single thing. She looked up at her son, looked him straight in the eyes and said the five words no child ever wants to hear their mother say to them:

"I'm so disappointed in you."

She closed her eyes slowly, shook her head gently, turned and walked away from him. No yelling, no lectures, just five words, and it left him feeling terrible, guilty, and horrible. His mother watched him, head hanging low, shoulders hunched, walk up the stairs to his room. She couldn't understand where she had gone wrong when she raised him. Dash was always bigger than the other kids, so from a young age she taught him to stand up people weaker than him and be kind to everyone. She tried to teach him that violence was never the answer to anything. She didn't see him for the rest of the night. The next day she didn't see him until she got home from work. She could tell he had been crying; his eyes were still a bit red and puffy. He had spent the whole night thinking of a way to apologize to her, but she said the best apology he could give her was a promise to stop the delinquent behavior. He swore he would, and he's kept his promise to this day.

While he has felt good for keeping his promise to his mother, he's felt miserable otherwise. His popular "friends", and he uses the term friends loosely, called him out on it, and found his reasoning to be pathetic. To say they wanted nothing to do with him was pretty much the bigger understatement of the century, but to keep up appearances they all stand in the same area and breathe in each other's bullshit, just to fool the rest of the student body, who wasn't about to question it for fear of degradation. So he would stand around with them, fake laughing at their ridiculous attempts at being funny, trying his hardest not to feel ashamed for not stepping in when they antagonized someone, and getting away from them as soon as possible.

His attention was snapped back to reality when he felt his friend shaking his shoulder.

"Hey, you in there man?" Kwan asked, waving a hand in front of his friend's face.

"What, yeah, yeah I'm fine." Dash managed to stutter out. Truth be told he was miserable and just wanted someone to talk to about it, but he wouldn't feel right dragging Kwan into the spiraling vortex of his mind, so he did the next best thing, he lied. His friend shrugged and went back to shooting at zombies, or skeletons, or whatever. Dash wasn't focused on the video game they were playing, which explained the terrible score he was getting right now. When the 'GAME OVER' screen flashed across the TV, Dash threw the controller down and sat back, tilting his head back and placing his opened palms on his facing, running them through his hair. He let out a frustrated sigh and stood up.

"Hey, Kwan, I, uh, I'm gonna head home now."

"You sure, man?"

"Yeah, I've got a lot on my mind, I think I'll take the long way home and think this shit out."

"Alright, I'll call you later, okay?"

"Yeah, seeya."

Dash made his way out of his best friend's house, slipping his hands into his pockets as he walked out the door. There was so much to it than just not having any fake friends to keep him company. He wanted someone who sincerely wanted to be around him. Sure, he had Kwan, but they were best friends, Kwan was like a brother to him. He could never really remember having friends. In fact, other than his imitation companions, he couldn't recall anyone who didn't cower in fear when he walked past them. Even after he gave up tormenting the student body, they still feared him, force of habit more than anything. He was the most well-known student in school, but he was sure he was the most alone.

Across town, Sam and Tucker were spending their Friday trying to make the most of the last day of vacation. They had already exhausted most of the movies in her private collection, and Tucker's collection, and her on demand service, and were out of things to watch on TV. They thought about going to a restaurant, but at 5:45 in the evening on a Friday, they knew they would never get in anywhere decent, and you can only live off of Nasty Burger for so long.

"Man, I'm so hungry." Tucker whined. Sam rolled her eyes, he had just finished off a tub of popcorn and he was still looking for food. As he rolled around on her bed moaning, she chuckled and picked up the phone.

"Will a pizza satiate your tremendous hunger?"

"It's a start."

Sam shook her head in disbelief, dialing the phone number. She ordered their regular, which they got almost every Friday without fail, minus what Danny usually got. She hung up with a sigh, placing the phone back on the base. It beeped as she let go, signifying it was charging again.

"The pizza guy sounded surprised when I told him to leave off Danny's order." Sam flopped down on the other side of her bed.

"Well you could've still gotten it."

"I know, your iron stomach could use the extra calories."

"Hey, I take offense to that. But I am also flattered."

"Wow, I actually have no response to that."

"That's one more point for Tucker."

"Yeah, to my several dozen points." Tucker stuck his tongue out at the girl; she grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. It hit his face and fell onto the bed. He picked it up, and she grabbed the other one, and they began to swing at each other, laughing.

Dash was about a mile from home when the sky opened up. The rain hit him like a tidal wave, sending a shiver down his spine. The clouds darkened, and thunder echoed throughout the neighbourhood. Dash started to run, his house now visible in the distance. His clothes were soaked, and he could feel their weight bringing them down. The clothes weren't the only thing, but right now his concern was getting home, not feeling sorry for himself. As he walked up the front steps, he saw that his mother was home. He turned the doorknob and she stopped him before he could even get two steps inside.

"Honey, you're dripping water all over the carpet." She said, sticking out a hand. He took off his wet jacket and handed it to her. He took off his shoes and left them by the door.

"Now go upstairs and change into some dry clothes or you'll get sick."

"Yes, mom." Dash smiled to himself as he walked up the stairs. It was nice to have someone looking out for you, even if it was your mother. Some people his age would complain if their parents treated them that way, but Dash viewed it more as a blessing, he was lucky to have a mother who cared. It was all he really had.


	4. Connections

Monday morning has always been one of those things that no student looks forward to, and this was no exception. Danny did manage to find a bright side; it had reached the final stretch of the year. Once April ended, it was all downhill. The only real obstacle in his way were finals. Because he had spent a majority of the year sitting in class, blank look plastered on his face, mind more concerned with the thoughts plaguing him then math and science, he wasn't sure exactly how well he could do. Not that it really made a difference to him; he was used to missing a lot of information due to lateness or absences due to otherwise paranormal events. If he were to be completely honest with himself right now he couldn't care less about school, and besides, other than his parents, no adult really wanted to bother with him, it has even reached the point where the teachers had essentially given up on teaching him anything.

On the other end of the social spectrum was an equally hopeless individual, but with much different circumstances. Dash would admit, he had never been the most studious student, or the most gifted. He tried hard at what was assigned to him, but he never quite did as well as he had hoped to. Now this didn't mean he wasn't intelligent, but it did take him longer to figure things out, which was problematic for him whenever he had to take a test. If he had notes, he would have no problem, but when he had to remember all the information, especially on something cumulative like a final exam, he was really up the creek without a paddle.

The faculty at Casper High was definitely guilty of favouritism, and everyone knew it. Naturally no one called them out on it, even the parents didn't bother. So when a popular kid, such as Dash, needed help in the education department, they forced the smarter kids to help him out after school. Of course for the first half of his high school career, those were the kids Dash tormented daily, so none of them wanted to be bothered. Even now, despite his attitude adjustment, they didn't feel it was worth the risk, and blew him off. He was dumbfounded, not only did the popular kids want nothing to do with him other than the image of popularity and unity and complete dominance, the lower echelons of the social ladder didn't want to hang around him either.

It was mid-May, on a cloudy day, the low pressure system not quite clear yet, cool, and dry, the humidity was low and the rain had held off. Danny placed a textbook in his locker. He paused, let out a sigh, and shut his locker. His heart almost jumped out of his mouth when he turned and stood face to face with Dash. Naturally he was aware that the other's bullying days had ended months ago, but force of habit made him associate Dash with pain, torture and misery, which he did not need any more of. He studied the other boy, noticing a familiar expression. His face was filled with confusion, loneliness, much like the face Danny saw when he looked in a mirror. Dash sensed the shorter male's distress and opened his mouth to explain.

"Hey Fenton, I, uh, I need your help."

"My help?" Danny looked up at him, arching an eyebrow to emphasize his confusion.

"Y…yeah, finals are coming up soon, and I, uh, I'm worried about how I'm gonna do on them."

"Why don't you get a tutor to help you?"

"Don't you think I thought of that already?," He said, his voice straining to remain at a volume that wouldn't be considered yelling, "'Cause I did, and none of them want to be bothered."

"So what do you want from me?"

"Well you're smart, I think, so I figured you could help me."

"Wow, you think, didn't know you had it in you."

Danny could see the genuine hurt on the other boy's face, and even he had to admit that that was a low blow. Now a few months ago he wouldn't have dared to say that to the jock's face, but at this point he really didn't care.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I haven't been doing the best in school lately either."

"Yeah but that's 'cause you don't pay attention. You're smart enough to figure out all this stuff on your own, I'm not."

Danny could hear the legitimate concern in the boy's plea for assistance and somehow felt obliged to help.

"I, I guess we could go over everything and figure it out together."

"Really? Oh man I appreciate it," Dash started. He placed a hand on the shorter boy's shoulder and pulled him close to him, pushing their sides together, "You know, Fenton, you're alright."

Danny stammered to reply, a blush lightly filling in his cheeks.

"I… I am?" He managed to choke out. The blonde relinquished his grip and waved a goodbye to his new study buddy, a grin barely curling the ends of his lips. Danny fumbled with the lock to his locker, flinging the door open at looking into the mirror he kept, placing a hand on his cheek. It was still slightly pink, as were the tips of his ears. He looked at his face in the mirror, studied it intently. What he saw forced him to take a step back, he finally saw a bit of happiness to its features. Sure, it was Dash, and sure he was doing it to benefit himself, but someone had finally gone out of their way to talk to Danny, ask him for something, want to be around him. Sure his friends had been pining to hang out with him, but this was different. And that expression, he saw himself when he looked at Dash moments before, someone who was lost in the world, looking for companionship. Closing his locker, he rubbed his temples and exhaled.

"Guess this means I gotta read the information now."

The two spent the next few weeks studying, switching between Danny's house and Dash's house every other day. They didn't really spend time in the same vicinity in school, but they seemed to be a little bit less on edge. Danny even managed to spend the weekend with Sam and Tucker without having a panic attack. He also had a much easier time focusing in school, and Dash finally felt like he truly understood the work he was doing.

Finally, the first day of finals arrived. Dash sat at his desk, chewing the end of his pencil nervously. He looked around the room, stopping at Danny. The other gave him a reassuring smile and a thumbs up, and Dash felt a little better. They had spent enough time going over everything, and he knew that he knew it. He just had to remember it. He exhaled and turned to face the exam that stared back at him. He swallowed, placing the tip of the pencil in his hand on the paper. He read the first question, glanced over at Danny, and realized he knew the answer. He looked over the next few questions; he knew all of those too.

The rest of the exam days worked out with similar results. Dash would sit down, look over at Danny, who would smile, extend a thumb of encouragement, answer all the questions effortlessly, wait till the bell rang, and thank Danny for helping him, usually patting him on the shoulder. The last day he pulled him into a friendly hug, something he usually reserved for Kwan, and the younger boy tensed up on contact. Dash released his grip, feeling his uneasiness, and scratched the back of his own head. He smiled and thanked Danny again, before heading out the door to start his summer.

Danny could still feel the larger male's arm around his back, the joy in his voice, his gratefulness. His mind was slowly piecing together all of the events that had just occurred, and he came to a realization.

He had a crush on Dash Baxter, the guy who spent the first two years of high school making the lives of Danny and his friends miserable. What's worse, Danny was completely okay with his newfound realization, but fear also came along with the acceptance. The fear of rejection, of ridicule, of loneliness, and uncertainty. He let out an exasperated sigh.

Danny was in for a long summer.


	5. Embarrassment

Danny managed to spend his walk home shaking his head and mumbling to himself. A crush? On Dash? He somehow couldn't wrap his mind around it, the guy who made several years of his life a living hell, who he spent so long hating, was now the object of his affection. He couldn't believe it, and yet, he was more than alright with it. It gave him something he hadn't had in ages, a reason to live every day. On the other hand, he groaned to himself, he had no idea what Dash felt, if he felt anything that was. He climbed up the front steps of his house, pushed the door in and ascended the stairs. He bumped the door to his room open with his hips, threw his backpack on the floor and flopped onto his bed. His mind was racing again, his head pulsing. He rubbed his temples. There was no need to process these thoughts, they were clear enough. Right now he just needed to figure out what to do, he needed a plan. Danny's train of thought was interrupted when a knock of the door filled the silence. He got off of his bed and opened it, Sam and Tucker greeting him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Danny inquired.

"We couldn't let you spend your first day of summer cooped up in your room." Tucker said, slightly pulling on Danny's shoulder, coaxing him out of his room.

"Yeah, we're gonna go hit up Nasty Burger, and you're coming with us." Sam enthused.

Danny's mind flashed back to the last time he entered the establishment, the ridicule of the football team, the overly affectionate couples, the feelings that he had discarded reared their faces again, but he shook them off, physically shaking his head for emphasis.

"I…uh, sure, yeah, let's go."

The trio descended the stairs and made their way outside; the warm summer breeze greeted them eagerly. Sam and Tucker subtly put their arms around each other's waists, and Sam slung her other arm around Danny's shoulder. The three took up the whole sidewalk, not caring if they inconvenienced the other people they came across.

"So what was up with you and Dash, man?" Tucker turned his head to look at his friend. Danny felt his face flush, and the words ceased to form, leaving him with an open mouth that made no noise. Finally, after several seconds of embarrassing stammering, he managed to think of an explanation.

"Well he came to me and said he needed help with the class material, and since I wasn't sure on it either, we killed to birds with one stone, metaphorically of course, and figured it out together."

"And that took you three weeks?" Sam added.

"I wanted to be thorough?"

Danny's friends looked at him, eyebrows arched, turned to look at each other, and then to face their friend again. Danny offered a sheepish grin, and Sam and Tucker rolled their eyes, smiles curling the corners of their lips. They figured it was best to just take his word for it. Despite the fact that it was Dash, although he did seem remarkably different, they hadn't seen Danny this happy in months, and frankly they were just glad to see him smile again.

The crowd at the Nasty Burger was something that should've been expected, given the circumstances of it being the first day their summer began, but surprisingly the combined brainpower of Danny and his friends had failed to overlook this. Nonetheless, the three of them made their way through the crowd of adolescents, but were discouraged when there was not a single available booth or table.

Dash had hurried out of the school, eager to start his summer, but his mood died down when he realized he didn't really have anyone to spend it with. He pushed the front door open with a sigh, lazily climbing up the stairs. He threw his things on the floor and sat on his bed, phone in hand. Running a hand through his blond hair, he dialed the phone with the other. The phone rang a few times before a voice answered on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Kwan, what are you up to?"

"Oh, hey Dash. Uhm, not a lot actually. Why?"

"Just askin'. Did you maybe wanna hang out?"

"Sure, man, what did you have planned?"

"I dunno, Nasty Burger?"

"Why is that the go-to teen hang out, anyway?"

"I don't know, dude, do you want to meet me there or not?"

"Sure, I'll meet you in like 20 minutes."

"Cool."

Dash hung up and placed the phone back in his pocket. He stood up and stretched his shoulders, sighing contently. At least he had something to do today. But his mind kept wandering back to Danny. Why did he seem so freaked out at the slightest human contact? Dash mulled over the thought for a while, but found his mind drifting to other Danny-related thoughts. He found himself blushing and shook the thoughts from his mind. He disregarded them and headed downstairs, stopping to say goodbye to his mother, before running outside and beginning his trek to the hottest teen hangout spot.

Fortunately, almost surprisingly even, he had had enough hindsight to go early, beating a good percent of the patrons he knew would show up. Kwan was waiting for him, he always was the one gifted with time management abilities. They headed inside and ordered something, grabbed a table and sat down.

"So you sure did spend quite a bit of time with Fenton these past few weeks, huh."

There was that name again, he couldn't escape it. Dash paused, why had he spent so much time with Danny. Sure they did some studying, but towards the end of the three weeks they just sat around and talked, usually without a main topic. Dash enjoyed it, maybe a bit too much. It had been an unexpected revelation, the kid he spent so much of his time torturing, the one that acted as fuel for his bullying, was the thing Dash needed to make his life a little less miserable.

"Oh god." Dash thought out loud.

"What?" Kwan responded.

Oh shit, he said that out loud, didn't he? He ran through his vocabulary in his head, thinking of the words to form an excuse.

"Dash, dude, I asked you what you and Fenton did together for three weeks."

"Oh, uh, well I wanted his help studying for finals, and he himself needed the extra review, so we pretty much just studied."

"For three weeks?"

"Yeah. Just because I don't look it, I'm very smart."

"Uh huh."

"Shut up, man."

Kwan let out a chuckle and Dash threw a glare in his direction. They sat there for a while, watching the masses slowly pile in, filling up seats, contributing to the deafening noise. Dash couldn't be bothered to make out individuals in the crowd, that was until three particular faces walked in. Sam and Tucker, and Danny, surprisingly, had just waltzed in, but stood, overwhelmed, looking for a placing to sit.

"Dude, your study buddy just walked in."

"And?"

"Do you want to ask them to sit with us?"

"What?"

"Danny, Sam, Tucker, over here!" Kwan shouted out, waving his arm to get their attention.

"Kwan, dude, no!" Dash covered his face, embarrassment creeping up on him.

"Aw, come on, what are you, embarrassed?"

Dash couldn't tell him the truth, that he had had a crush on Danny Fenton for the past few years. He knew he was gay, but even that took a while before he felt comfortable sharing. He had placed his head on the table, arms placed over it. He looked up to see Danny and his friends making their way over, hesitantly, and could make out their voices.

"You sure about this?" He heard Sam ask.

"Yeah, Dash is cool now." Danny reassured. Dash could feel his cheeks heat up. Danny thought he was cool?

"And Kwan?" Tucker added.

"He invited us over, right? He's always been the lesser of two evils, but he seems alright too." Danny replied. Dash covered his face again, but he could make out the sound of Kwan sliding over. Dash peaked, saw Sam and Tucker sit next to his traitorous best friend, and immediately realized who had sat down next to him.

"Dash, you okay?" Danny asked, poking the larger teen's shoulder lightly. Dash practically shivered when Danny's finger made contact with his arm. He exhaled and sat up.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just, uh, resting my neck."

Danny gave the blond a confused look, but dismissed his suspicious actions.

"So what are you guys doing here?" Kwan decided to break the silence. Dash reassured himself mentally that it wasn't the only thing that would be broken after they left.

"The same thing as you two, just looking for a place to hang out." Sam answered.

Other than the occasional comment, the meeting between the five teens was awkward. Danny and Dash glanced at each other nervously, earning questioning glances from their friends. Tucker and Sam could see their friend's eyes dart around the restaurant. Eventually they had fallen on Dash, who had also looked over. Both teens drew their attention in the opposite direction, cheeks lighting up like Christmas, but the clueless trio chocked it up to them being from such different social classes, sitting together in public. As Danny, Sam and Tucker finally got up to leave, figuring that it was fruitless to sit there anything, Danny's hand had accidentally brushed up against Dash's on the seat. He felt the other male pull away, but not before feeling the larger, calloused hand linger for a couple seconds.

"Hey, this was great guys, we'll let you know next time we plan on coming here, you can meet up with us." Kwan called to them as they headed for the door. When he was sure they were out of earshot, he looked over at Dash, face contorting into a sly grin.

"What?"

"I saw the look on your face, man."

"W…what are you talking about?" The flaxen haired male stuttered.

"The look on your face as soon as Danny showed up. You have a crush on Fenton, dude."

This is the moment he had feared the most, when one of the a-listers found out the truth about the star student's crush on the nerdy kid. Granted, it was Kwan, and not to mention most of the other popular kids couldn't give two shits about him, but he still couldn't stop thinking over all the ways this could end disastrously. Then Kwan spoke again.

"Dude, it's cool. I can tell that you've been thinking about this for a while. As soon as I brought him up you got this doofy, love-struck look on your face and started staring into the void. Look, when you came out I told you that I'd stand by your choices, we're like brothers, man, and your orientation won't change that. Besides, Fenton and his friends aren't that bad, they're actually pretty cool."

"Do…do you think I have a shot?"

"Well with Sam and Tucker together, you have less competition."

"Ha-ha, very funny."

"Well if I had to guess, looking at the way he behaved around you, you definitely have a shot."

"You better not be saying shit, man."

"Come on, Dash, this is serious. If you don't have the balls to get your man yourself, I'm gonna have to help you." Kwan chuckled, the idea of him playing matchmaker struck him as funny. But the look on Dash's face showed how dire the situation really was. He did have to admit, since Dash started spending time around Danny, he seemed so much happier, so much more content with his decision to stop bullying, and his attempt to distance himself from his usual crowd.

Dash sighed, looking his friend square in the eyes. In a way, he was glad he didn't have to hide it from him, but at the same time he still had no idea how to see if he had a shot with Danny.

"Whole school and I have to pick Danny Fenton. Kwan, what have I got myself into?"

"Teenage drama, man, we all go through it."

"It isn't that simple."

"Oh?"

"Now's not the time, dude, I'll tell you later."

Kwan could see how serious his friend was about this. He sighed, temporarily defeated. He climbed out of the booth and waited for his friend to do the same. When they were outside the restaurant, Dash turned to Kwan, looking him in the eyes again.

"If you tell anyone," Dash began, "I will end you."

Kwan patted his friend on the shoulder with a laugh before walking off in the direction of his house. Dash sighed, looking up at the sun, is descent already started. The sky was a beautiful mixture of blue, purple, pink with a bit of orange thrown in. Dash had never been one to appreciate the sunset, too sentimental and romantic for him, but at this moment, he felt his eyes drawn to it.

Dash knew this was going to be a long summer.


	6. Oh

Danny rolled over in his bed, warm rays of light shining through the window. He let out a relaxed sigh, that first day of summer sigh. He fumbled for the clock on his bedside table, cracking an eye open to check the time. 10:15 am, not too late in the day, but late enough to say that you slept in late. He placed the clock back on the table and slowly sat up in his bed. Yawning, Danny stretched his arms out to the side and above his head. His eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the light. He flung the blankets aside, creating an abstract pile of fabric on his bed. The phone on the desk across the room blinked several times, signifying unread messages. Danny made a note to check the messages after he got dressed, which he did, very causally. It was relatively early, but the temperature had already climbed to a staggering degree, no doubt currently residing in the low nineties. Throwing on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, Danny grabbed his phone and made his way to the bathroom. Phone in one hand, toothbrush in the other, he had to work carefully to avoid needing a new phone. The messages, from Sam and Tucker, were invitations for the trio to do something that afternoon. Danny tapped away, and when he was satisfied with his responses, as well as his oral hygiene, he placed the toothbrush away and left the bathroom, heading downstairs. His parents were out gallivanting, off doing who knows what, but his sister, home from her first year of college, was sitting in the living room, fan in hand. She looked in his direction and smiled. Danny smiled back, genuinely happy to see his sister for the first time in months.

"Hey little brother." She greeted as he finally descended the last step.

"Hey yourself."

"Nice to see you finally wake up."

"Hey, it's summer, I'm allowed to sleep in."

Jazz chuckled and let out a groan.

"With all the equipment mom and dad have, you'd think they'd have a decent air conditioner."

"Well we do, but with all the equipment they don't like to run it."

"Oh, right, the ghost fighting weaponry is more important than a comfortable living environment." Jazz rolled her eyes. Danny collapsed onto the couch next to his sister. The whining was unnecessary, but he did have to agree, it was humid and disgusting in the living room. He had agreed to meet up with his friends at 11:30, so he still had an hour or so to kill, sitting around seemed like a reasonable activity.

Dash wasn't able to wake up on his own accord. Ever since they were younger, he and Kwan had had keys to each other's houses, just in case, although Dash was regretting that decision right about now. Kwan had barged into his room at 9 o clock in the morning, shouting something about the zoo, not that Dash was paying attention, but when Kwan got an idea in his head, he never let anyone forget it. Now Dash would admit to his soft side for animals, but not this early in the morning on the first day of vacation. His natural response was to groan and cover his head. When that didn't shut his friend up, he grabbed a pillow and threw it at the other male. It hit him in the face and landed in front of his feet with a 'fwump'. Kwan frowned and walked over to the blonde's bed. He grabbed onto the blankets, beginning to tug on them. Dash, however, was not giving up that easy and grabbed onto them as well. The two pulled, evenly matched, until Dash's mother walked in. She laughed and shook her head. Dash sighed and let go, sending Kwan toppling over backwards, the blanket falling on top of him. Dash fought back the urge to explode into laughter as Kwan wrestled with the blanket. Dash rolled his eyes and got up to help his friend, tossing the bedspread behind him and pushing his friend and his mother out of his room, slamming the door shut behind them. After he had managed to get dressed in peace, Dash headed into the kitchen, where his mother, as well as Kwan, was waiting.

"Bout time you got up." Kwan said, greeting his friend.

"It's like," Dash paused to look at the clock, "9:30 in the morning. How early am I supposed to be up?"

"We agreed last night that we were gonna go to the zoo today."

"Yeah, but the zoo is open all day, why do we have to go this early?"

"Why not?"

Dash sighed and shook his head. It wasn't like he had anything better to do, might as well spend the day at the zoo.

Most of the summer was spent in this manner. Danny spent the days with Sam and Tucker and Dash spent time hanging out with Kwan. Danny and his friends tried to get jobs at the mall, the zoo, the aquarium, the amusement park, the grocery store and the mini golf course, but they were either too young, too inexperienced or generally unfit for the position. Dash and Kwan didn't bother with summer jobs, opting to chill out at one of their houses, playing video games or watching TV.

Danny, Sam and Tucker were sitting in the park, enjoying one of the rare days where the humidity level was comfortable.

"So what should we do tomorrow?" Danny asked. Sam and Tucker looked at each other and then back at Danny.

"What?"

"Well, I wasn't sure when to tell you, but I'm leaving on vacation with my family tomorrow." Sam answered.

"Oh, that's cool. Tuck, what about you, anything you want to do?"

"Actually, I'm going with Sam and her family."

"Oh." Danny spoke, now disheartened.

"It's only for a few weeks." Sam tried to cheer her friend up.

"Yeah, maybe you could make some friends online." Tucker contributed. Danny gave his friend a melancholy glare, clearly not in the mood for his sarcastic remarks.

"What do you mean you're going to South Korea for a month?" Dash complained.

"My family and I are going to visit some relatives of mine. I haven't seen them in years, so I have to go." Kwan responded apologetically.

"What am I supposed to do for a month?"

"Hang out with your other friends?"

"I don't have any other real friends."

"You could always hang out with Danny." Kwan suggested.

Dash was about to retort, but he closed his mouth and frowned, eyes drifting to the sides. Kwan patted his friend on the shoulder before saying goodbye and heading out the door, leaving Dash alone for what could possibly the longest month of his life.


	7. Proximity

Danny sighed, staring at the computer screen in front of him. As he scrolled, images flashed past his eyes, but he didn't absorb their contents. It had been a week. Sam and Tucker were on vacation with Sam's family for another few weeks, the week of their return coincidentally being the last week of summer, although Danny was sure that was planned, and not merely coincidental. He had taken Tucker's quote, unquote advice and tried to make some friends with mutual interests over the internet, but so far he wasn't having any success. He did manage to stumble over a blog dedicated to his ghostly alter ego, with dozens of members who drew pictures of themselves making out with him. Needless to say, he was completely disturbed, mildly disgusted, and ultimately done with the internet for a while. With a frustrated exhale of breath, he powered the computer down and pushed himself away from the desk, getting out of the chair and standing in the middle of his room, facing the door.

Dash stared at the television screen in front of him. The current program was some ridiculous reality show, with a cast of annoying orange people living on the East Coast. He narrowed his eyes and tapped the channel button. A young girl, portly and blonde, and her redneck family are preparing for a beauty pageant. Dash's face contorted in disgust and he slammed the remote, changing the channel frantically. A cartoon, featuring a pair of twins sent away for the summer to live with their uncle, is currently playing. The strangely captivating theme song, a mixture of music and whistles, fills the room. Dash looks on, skeptical. After 20 minutes, the boy and his sister have managed to dispatch an army of gnomes with a gold cart and a leaf blower, but not before one of the gnomes vomits up a rainbow. Dash inhales sharply and switches the TV off. He sets the remote down as he exhales, and stands up.

"I watch way too much television." Dash finally says to no one in particular. He slips his shoes on and makes his way outside, desperate for some fresh air and less modern television programming.

Danny had wandered aimlessly, ending up in the park. The place was packed, not surprisingly. It was a partly cloudy August afternoon, not too humid and not swelteringly hot, so families were making the most of it. Danny stood in the shade, leaning against the trunk of a tree. The breeze swirled through the branches, making the leaves appear as if they were dancing. Danny took in his surroundings, there were kites soaring high above the surface, a boy and his friend tossing a Frisbee to his dog, the four legged creature bursting into a sprint to catch the plastic disc, a family sitting on a checkered blanket, basket of food in the center, a mom pushing her daughter on the swing, and a group of grade-schoolers goofing around, pushing each other and laughing. Danny sighed, crossing his arms. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the tree. Seeing all this people having fun with their friends made him long for Sam and Tucker, but at the same time he was glad that they were able to spend time as a couple together. Danny chuckled, the idea of Sam's parents butting in on their time together popping into his head. Danny let out a yawn, the breeze caressing his face. He let his mind settle, trying to relax a little. He took his weight off of the tree and began walking through the park once again.

Dash had found his way into the park as well. Much like the Nasty Burger, the park was a prime place during the summer. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and hummed to a tune that was stuck in his head. Not quite sure of the lyrics, he was content with the various noises he could produce as a substitute. He closed his eyes as he walked, which would prove to be a mistake. One minute he was walking, then he collided with something, and then he made contact with the ground. He tried to make sense of what just happened, but his thought process was interrupted by a familiar voice that he couldn't make out. The voice was asking if he was alright, but Dash only managed an indiscernible groan. He slowly opened his eyes, taking in the very basics, raven black hair and blue eyes. A hand was held out in front of him. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

"Dash, you alright?" The voice asked again. Dash rubbed his eyes and opened them, looking face to face at Danny, hand extended in front of him. Dash grabbed the hand and Danny helped pull the larger male to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm alright."

"Didn't know I'd bump into you here, literally AND figuratively." Danny laughed. Dash responded with a smile, letting a small chuckle escape his closed lips.

"It's kind of my fault for walking with my eyes closed."

"Can't say I haven't been there before."

"So, uh, where are the other two musketeers?" Dash questioned, acknowledging the absence of Danny's friends.

"Sam went on vacation with her family, and Tucker went with them."

"Bummer, man."

"Yeah. Speaking of missing friends, where's Kwan?"

"He's visiting relatives with his family overseas." Dash griped.

"Looks like we're in the same boat then." Danny stated.

"Yep."

The two teens stared at each other, neither sure what to say next. Their eyes met, blue on blue, and the silence became all consuming, unbearable, and uncomfortable. Finally Danny managed to form a sentence from the jumbled mess in the back of his throat.

"Since we're both standing around, we might as well hang out here in the park with each other."

"I guess. Beats walking around by yourself."

Having reached an agreement, more or less, the two males found an acceptable spot, in the form of a weathered bench, to sit. Danny crossed his legs and Dash sat arched over, elbows resting on his knees. The only real problem now was striking up a conversation.

"So," Danny began, trying to think of something to work with, "How's…it… going?"

Dash was equally inept when it came to thinking of something to say.

"It's going… well?"

"That's great… yeah."

The pair sat in silence for a few more minutes, put off by that embarrassing display of epic socially awkward proportions. Danny looked up at the sky, trying to suppress the urge to kiss Dash and then run, and Dash stared at his feet, the usually boisterous male at a loss of words.

"So I got my report card last week." Dash managed to throw out. He mentally crossed his fingers, hoping for something.

"Oh?" Danny picked his head up and turned to face Dash.

"Yeah. Thanks to your help I managed to average a 'C'."

"That's great."

"Yeah. I owe you because of it."

"You don't owe me anything, all I did was help you understand it, you're the one who knew what to do with it."

"Yeah but if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have even known where to start."

"Dash," Danny began, placing a hand on the other male's shoulder, giving him a sincere look, "You're a smart guy, you just need to try. You'd get things a lot quicker and you wouldn't need my help."

Dash smiled, no one ever told him that he was smart and meant it. Ice blue eyes were swallowed by oceanic blue ones as they made eye contact again. Danny unconsciously felt himself inch closer to Dash, the other aware of the movements of the smaller teen. The world began to crumble away, leaving only the two boys and the bench they were seated on. It was almost like a bubble had swallowed them up, blocking out everything. Danny was now leaning up, head tilting ever so slightly to the side. Dash moved his own head towards Danny's and the distance was closed within seconds. Their lips were centimeters apart when the metaphorical bubble was shattered by a frenetic voice screaming "LOOK OUT!" The two teens pulled away in time for a Frisbee to sail between their faces. The kid Danny had seen with his dog earlier ran over and apologized before going to retrieve his toy, leaving them as they were. The realization of what had almost occurred caught up with both teens and their eyes went wide, faces tinted a bright red. Danny stood up, scratching the back of his head.

"I, um, I…" He stuttered. Dash tugged at the collar of his shirt, trying to stop his mind from screaming unclear thoughts.

"Oh, gee, uh, look at the time. It's been nice, but, uh, I gotta help my, uh, mom with dinner." Dash stammered out as he stood up.

"Yeah, I gotta help Jazz, do, some…something? Yeah, she needs help with the, uh, thing." Danny rambled, trying to make sense.

Dash looked around, grabbed Danny by the shoulders and placed a kiss of his forehead before turning and jogging off in the other direction. Danny, now weak in the knees, lifted his shaking arm up and gave a barely identifiable wave before turning to go home.


	8. Confidentiality

Jazz was lounging in the kitchen, seated at the table with a magazine in hand. Her parents had called and surprised her when they said they were going to a restaurant together, one of the more expensive, high class bistros that the town had offered. To be honest, she barely registered the rest of the conversation. She didn't think they'd even be allowed in with all the commotion they cause on a weekly basis, but then again she hadn't seen them in months, so maybe they were better behaved now, although Jazz doubted that. After a shocker like that, the day had gone by smoothly. Danny, despite not having his other two thirds with him, had gone off to the park.

"Speak of the devil." She thought out loud as the door could be heard opening. Danny didn't so much as look as Jazz as he climbed up the stairs to his room, coming close to slipping and falling several times. Putting a finger to her lips, eyebrows arching, Jazz stood up, placing the magazine on the table, and followed her younger brother up to his room. The door was closed, and a quick grab at the handle revealed it was locked.

"Danny never locks his door." She mused.

Dash couldn't remember anything between leaving the park and sitting down on the couch in his basement. He ventured to figure out what the hell had happened back in the park. He remembered bumping into Danny, quite literally even, then they sat on one of the benches and talked, then Danny got really close, but Dash himself had gotten closer to the other boy, then they almost kissed, then the Frisbee, and then Dash left.

Wait, they almost kissed.

"I almost kissed Danny Fenton." Dash muttered under his breath. He paused and thought.

"Wait, I DID kiss Danny." Dash exclaimed to himself.

And he had, it was only a kiss on the forehead, but he didn't have to do it. He could've just left, but he didn't, he hesitated. The look on Danny's face, and his own emotions, had held him back. He wanted to kiss him more officially, but he couldn't quite bring himself to. But wait, Danny had almost kissed him in the first place, hadn't he? Dash pushed a hand through his now disheveled hair, trying to calm himself down. He could feel his heart beating through his chest, and his hands were shaky, his palms sweaty. He grabbed his cellphone and hoped, regardless of the time difference, that Kwan would answer.

Danny heard a light rapping on his door.

"Jazz." He spoke softly, under his breath. He was positive it was her. To be honest, he wasn't quite in the mood for her input, but figured he'd humour her. He pushed himself off his bed slowly, making his way to the locked door. He grabbed the handle, flicking the lock with a finger, and turned it, cracking the door enough to see Jazz through one eye.

"Yes?" He asked curtly.

"Hey little brother, just checking in."

"That's great."

"So, how are things?"

"Great, everything is really freaking great." Danny spoke, his tone rising slowly.

"You sure?" She questioned, her words dripping with concern.

"Yes." He snapped at her.

"Danny, if something's bothering you, you might want to talk about it."

"You know something, Jazz," Danny began, tired of her meddling, "I thought being in college would've changed you enough to make you less nosy, but you're just as bad."

Jazz's eyes went wide, her head drooping. She didn't have any intention of meddling, but Danny had the habit of taking her efforts the wrong way.

"You… you're right. If you want to talk, I'll be in the kitchen, but I won't force you to."

Jazz turned, corners of her mouth forming into a slight frown, and walked away. Danny shut his door and locked it again, guilt instantly hitting him. He hadn't meant to be so rude; Jazz was only trying to help. He fell face first into his bed and exhaled sharply. What had happened back at the park was so vivid in his mind, but he still couldn't comprehend it. He had come so close to kissing the person who held his affection for what he now realized was more years than months, and then the kid with the Frisbee ruined it. But he really hadn't, Dash kissed him before he left, just on the forehead, but still a kiss. It still counted, right? Danny couldn't quite tell if it did or not.

The phone rang in Dash's ear; his empty hand had turned into a pair of crossed fingers, a silent prayer for his best friend's voice on the other end. The other end of the call let out a click, and there was a breath, a groggy exhale.

"H…hello?"

"Kwan, thank god you answered!" Dash exclaimed, relieved.

"Dash? Dude do you know what time it is here?"

"No, not really."

"This better be pretty important."

"I almost kissed Fenton."

"WHAT?" The surprise echoed through Dash's quiet basement.

"Well technically he almost kissed me, and I was okay with it of course, and then some stupid kid with a Frisbee ruined it and then we both kind of freaked out, but he seemed more nervous, and then I left. But I did kiss him on the forehead before leaving."

"Dude."

"And now I don't know what do to."

"This would be so much easier if I wasn't on the other side of the world."

"Well what should I do?"

"Well you both like each other, right?"

"I… I think so."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I don't know."

"Look, you both like each other and you've come this close to forming something between you and him, why not just go for it?"

"You really think I should?"

"YES! Do it now before something happens and you lose your chance."

Dash was about to reply when the call was dropped.

Jazz was sitting the couch reading a book. It wasn't exactly her type of material, but all the girls in her school had been discussing it, and she figured she'd pick it up and see what the fuss was about. Quite frankly, if she had wanted something like this, she could've found it online, for less money and better writing. In fact, she was honestly considering burning it, even though it went against her morals. She closed the book in disgust and placed it on the coffee table. She was about to get up and go to her room when Danny came down the stairs.

"Hey." He said softly.

"Hi."

"Sorry for being an ass earlier."

"It's okay, little brother, I understand that you need your privacy."

"You're right, I do, but at the same time you were just trying to help, and I think I do need it."

Jazz adjusts herself on the couch, patting the seat next to her. Danny took a seat and looked at her.

"What's on your mind?"

Danny opened his mouth, trying to think of how to solidify his thoughts.

"Okay, so you remember Dash, right?" He started.

"Yeah?"

"Well…I'minlovewithhimandwealmostkis sedinthepark." Danny yelped, his thoughts colliding into one word.

"What?" Jazz asked, genuinely unsure of what her younger brother had shouted out. Danny exhaled and took a deep breath.

"I'm in love with Dash, the kid who made my freshman year in high school miserable, and we almost kissed in the park earlier."

"Oh, I, um… This is, well unexpected really." Jazz was at a loss for words. Danny sat back, regretful that he had told her. Jazz twiddled her thumbs, looking around the room awkwardly. She could tell Danny was authentic in his confession, but she was unsure of what to say in this kind of situation.

"Wow, would you look at the time, I think I'll head off to bed." Jazz said, standing up from the couch. She picked up her book from the coffee table and shuffled over to the stairs, climbing to her room, leaving Danny to sit on the couch, lost in thought again. For the first time in what felt like ages, the overwhelming feeling of confusion consumed him yet again. He curled up his body, bringing his knees to his chest. The flooding emotion of sadness manifested itself into tears, and Danny was unable to hold them back.


	9. Storm

The sound of rain pattering on the window was the first noise Danny heard as he was roused from his miserable slumber. His entire body ached, his head was throbbing, and his heart was still sore. Eyes slowly cracked open, and the grey morning sky filled the room with light. Danny let out a groggy moan, a soft tapping filling his ears. He groaned, rubbing his eyes. He thought the noise was just part of his headache, but as time passed it grew increasingly louder. Danny tried to listen for the noise's source, and determined it was a knock on the door. He uncurled his sore body and stood up, pushing himself off of the couch. He barely managed to pick up his feet, dragging them along as he made the trek over to the door. The tapping had slowly evolved into pounding by the time he had reached the room's entrance. He looked through the small window to the outside, and jerked his body back in surprise. He felt himself start to shake a little, eyes wide in shock. The figure was persistent, and the knocking refused to cease. It wasn't a threatening knock, it was more of a concerned on, urgent even. Danny took a few nervous breaths, easing his shaking body. He grabbed the door handle and turned it.

Dash had fallen asleep on the basement couch. He woke up in the middle of the night, a terrible dream plaguing him. He took in the dark basement, its once familiar floor plan now shrouded by the mysteries that the nighttime hours brought. He groped the cushion next to him, finding his cellphone. He pressed a button, lighting the screen up, and used it to light the room. The light acted as a guide, and Dash made his way upstairs, slowing guiding himself up the staircase with his free arm. He found the door to his bedroom opened it quietly, being careful not to wake up his mother down the hall. The bed welcomed him, and he crawled into it readily. The advice from his best friend still reverberated in his mind, and the more he thought it over, the more he agreed that Kwan was right. Dash had to do something, or he would end up regretting it.

Danny opened the door, trying not to feel overwhelmed. Blonde hair matted down by rain, oceanic eyes staring steadily, clothes weighed down by water and sweat. Dash leaned against the door frame, out of breath, precipitation dripping down his face. He panted, trying to get out his thoughts, but he was unable, and Danny stood there, dumbstruck. Dash coughed, droplets flying from his hair and hitting Danny's chest. Danny's reflexes took over, and he extended an arm towards Dash, who grabbed it and pulled the raven haired boy towards him. The rain hit Danny, waking him up, bringing him into complete consciousness of his surroundings.

"Dash? W…what are you doing here?" Danny finally spoke, courage newly found.

"I… yesterday, in the park, we… what happened?"

"I don't, I mean, I, we… I don't know."

"Well something happened, Danny."

"I know, I just, I don't know why it happened."

The next thing happened seemingly out of nowhere. Dash, still holding onto Danny's arm, pulled him closer, their chests making contact. The rain intensified, soaking through fabric, plastering now wet hair to Danny's forehead. Dash tilted his head down, hand pushing on Danny's chin, the other's head rising up in response. Eyes made contact; Danny felt the blood rush to his cheeks, and he had had enough. He loosened Dash's grip on his hand, and both hands flew to Dash's face, pulling it down. Their lips made contact, an awkward collision of flesh that to any passerby would seem completely unromantic. This connection, both literal and mental, had finally been formed. Dash pulled their lips apart, pulling Danny into his arms.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that." Dash chuckled.

"Do you realize how clichéd that line is?"

"Shut up, Fenton, clichés work in situations like these."

Danny couldn't help but laugh. He felt an unbridled joy that had been missing from him for so long. He tipped his head back, rain hitting his face. His mouth was curled into a smile, and the laughter spilled out. He grabbed onto Dash wrapping his arms around the taller male's waist.

"What's so funny?"

"This."

"What?"

"This, Dash, this whole situation."

"I don't think I follow."

"Lemme see if I can explain it to you. I have had this ridiculous crush on you for years."

"What about Sam, or the fact that throughout the first year of high school you melted when you were in the same room as Paulina?"

"Sam is great, but I knew my relationship with her was perfect being completely platonic. And as far as Paulina goes, I think that was me trying to convince myself to be normal, a cover-up if you will. After we spent three weeks studying I figured out that I didn't have to like Paulina to feel normal, or any girl."

"What about the fact that I made your life miserable for two years?"

"That I cannot explain, but deep down you always seemed like a nice guy, and once you stopped the bullying act it turns out you really are a sweetheart."

Dash felt his cheeks heat up, Danny's words touching his heart in the sincerest way possible.

"What about you? Why does the most popular guy in school want to date the nerdy loser?"

"You aren't a loser, Danny."

"That's not what you said freshman year."

"You know how sometimes you have a crush on someone, and you don't know how to admit it, so you just sort of pick on them instead?"

"Yeah?"

"I think that's what it was."

"Wow, must be one hell of a crush that you have on me to make me endure all that torture."

"Okay, maybe part of it was the peer pressure. Look, I want to apologize, I was such an ass to you, your friends, everyone, and I feel so bad about it."

Danny placed a kiss on the blonde's cheek, silencing him.

"I can't speak for the others, but I forgive you. You really are a nice guy, but you need to stop listening to those popular assholes."

"In case you haven't noticed, they don't bother with me much anymore. They're all fake; they only bother with me to keep the image together, not like it works."

"Well at least you have Kwan, he seems cool."

"Yeah, Kwan's a cool guy. He's the reason I'm here right now actually."

"What?"

"He's known about my crush on you for a while now, like the few weeks ago at the Nasty Burger."

"That's why he called us over?"

"Yeah, I told him not to, I was embarrassed."

"You, Dash Baxter, embarrassed by me?" Danny teased. Dash blushed again.

"Shut up, you didn't look too comfortable around me either. I seem to recall you jumping every time I so much as breathed on you during the last month of school."

Danny was about to speak when the sky turned black, sending lighting crackling across the sky. The clouds opened up, the rain becoming painful on contact.

"Danny, get… oh!"

"Jazz?"

"Your sister?"

"Danny, as much as I want to speak my mind, we have to get inside."

"What's going on?"

"The weather service has declared a tornado warning for the entire county."

There was no need to question the validity of Jazz's statement, as the proof was all around them. The wind had picked up exponentially, and combined with the dark clouds and heavy rain, even standing on the front steps felt like suicide. Danny pulled Dash inside and locked the door.

"We should get down to the basement." Danny suggested.

"Danny, can I, uh, speak to you for a second?" Jazz motioned for her brother to follow her into the kitchen. The siblings left Dash standing there, confused.

"Danny, we can't just bring him down there."

"Jazz, the whole town knows our parents hunt ghosts, what's he going to see that he doesn't know?"

"I don't know, but we can't just bring him down there, regardless of your little crush on him."

"Jazz, it's not just a silly little crush, it's a mutual love."

"So you pick now to act like a love-struck teenage girl?"

"Jazz, now's not the time, if a tornado hits I want to survive so we can argue later, in the meantime we are going down to the basement, and if he sees things he didn't think were there, so be it."

Jazz was taken back; she had never seen her brother so forceful before. If she wasn't furious with him, she would've told him how impressed she was. She knew he was right, however, and put her hands up in defeat. She left the kitchen, heading for the basement, while Danny went to get Dash.

"Dash?"

"Danny, what's going on? If there's a chance for tornados, shouldn't we get somewhere safe?"

"We will, but first I need to tell you something. You remember Danny Phantom?"

"How could I forget him? He's a hero. I wonder where he is now."

"Well," Danny paused, taking in air, "Danny Phantom is actually closer than you think."

"Really? Where?"

There was a blinding white flash as a pair of rings surrounded Danny. The once blue eyes Dash stared into now peered back at him with a green hue, the wet, black hair was stark white, and the loose fitting t shirt and shorts were replaced by the iconic black spandex.

"D…Danny Phantom? You're Danny Phantom?"

"Yeah."

"So this whole time you've been him, and he's been you?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Since the start of freshman year."

"How?"

Danny floated over to the larger male, grabbing onto his hand. He focused, turning them both intangible, and glided through the floor. Both males landed in the lab, Jazz stood there impatiently. As they returned to their material forms, Danny could make out the shock on his sister's face.

"You told him?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Yes it is, Danny. Do you realize what kind of choice you just made?"

"Yes, and it was my choice to make."

"How do you know he can be trusted?"

"Hey guys, I'm standing right here." Dash interrupted.

"Danny I can't believe this, you haven't told mom and dad, but you told him?"

"This is completely different, mom and dad HUNT ghosts for a living."

"But they're your family."

"Um, I won't tell anyone."

"And besides, what makes you think he won't just tell everyone? He's the guy who made you miserable for the first half of your high school career."

"Dash is different now, Jazz."

"Both of you, stop," Dash shouted, getting the bickering relatives' attention "Look, Jazz, I know that Danny's relationship with me in the past has been, well it was abusive, and horrible, and I was an ass, but that's all different now."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because," Dash swallowed, summoning all his courage, "Because I love him."

Danny floated down from his place in the air and hovered next to Dash, who grabbed onto the ghost boy's hand.

"I know this may seem out of the blue, but I've had a crush on Danny for years, I just never knew how to express those feelings. If Danny being Danny Phantom is a secret that needs to be protected, then you bet your ass I will do my best to protect it."

Danny used his free hand to turn Dash's head. He placed a kiss on the blonde's lips, the contact sending shivers down Dash's spine.

"Sorry about that, ghosts are naturally colder than humans."

"It was nice, different, refreshing."

Danny and Dash were about to kiss again, but Jazz interrupted them with a loud 'Ahem'.

"I may not be ready to accept this, not yet, but you do seem genuine. But I am watching you."

"Jazz relax, Dash isn't going to tell anyone. I trust him, and that's all that matters."

"Alright, we'll just have to see how this works." Jazz replied, trying to be reasonable. She turned to go check on the weather situation upstairs, leaving the two teens alone.

"So does this mean we're a couple?" Danny mused, floating to the other side of Dash.

"Well," Dash grabbed the white gloved hand, "Maybe after a few dates to make it official."

"Well then let's not waste time." Danny said as he flew above Dash. He slipped his hands under Dash's arms and lifted him up. He phased them through the ceiling, the floor and the wall, until they were outside.

"This is incredible." Dash managed to let slip out through the astonishment and terror.

"Flying is one of my favourite things about being part ghost. The feeling is incredible."

Dash looked down at the ground, growing increasingly far away. Danny felt him cringe, tightening his grip on the larger boy. Dash looked up at Danny, the wind blowing the white hair around his face, the sunlight shining through the thinning clouds lit up his features. Dash closed his eyes, trying to let the experience of flying sink in.

"You ready to land?" He heard Danny ask. He nodded, missing the feel of solid ground. He always idolized Danny Phantom, but the thought of the love of his life being Danny Phantom was unfathomable.

"You know I still love you for you, not because you're Danny Phantom, right?"

"Well technically Danny Phantom is part of who I am, but thanks."

Dash could barely tell when they had landed, it was extremely gentle, which wasn't what he had expected.

"Not that bad of a first date, huh?" Danny said as he released his grip on the other's arms.

"Not much of a first date, either." Dash rolled his eyes. Danny's eyes sunk, but Dash chuckled and placed a kiss on the boy's cheek. Danny flew behind a tree and came out human.

"Try not to do that, people will start to get suspicious if you kiss Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom."

"Well Danny Fenton is more than enough boyfriend for me."

"So we're boyfriends now?" Danny asked, blushing. Dash's cheeks reddened as well, and his mouth formed a smile as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, maybe just a little."


	10. Mother

Dash flipped through the channels on the TV, stopping to look at the weather forecast for the upcoming week. Summer was almost over, there were only about three weeks including the one that started tomorrow. Kwan was going to be back in about two weeks, which gave him a week to hang out with his best friend. In the meantime, he had someone new to hang out with. Dash paused his train of thought as his mother called down to him from the top of the stairs.

"Dash, time for dinner."

"Be right up." He shouted back. He pushed himself off of the couch and slowly climbed up the stairs. He hadn't actually told his mother about him and Danny yet, and he knew Danny more than likely didn't mention it to anyone; actually Dash was almost positive that Danny's sister was the only one who knew. Obviously Kwan knew about his feelings, but Dash decided not to bother him again while he was away. Dash knew his mother wouldn't be upset, in fact she took a liking to Danny back when they had spent the last month of school studying together. She thought he was a good influence for Dash, and naturally she knew that this was the Danny that her son had tormented for years, but was overjoyed to see the two getting along.

"So Dash," his mother struck up the conversation as he sat down, "Have you spoken to that nice Danny boy since the school year ended?"

Dash could feel his face heat up and his eyes went wide. Fortunately enough his mother's back was turned, so he had time to compose himself, but found no words came out to answer his mother. He opted to shake his head slowly, his mother placing a hand on her hip and shaking her head.

"What a shame, he was such a sweet boy. I certainly wouldn't mind some company other than Kwan."

"What's wrong with Kwan?"

"Nothing, honey, he's like a second son to me, but variety is the spice of life."

"Yeah, sure Mom, whatever you say."

Denise eyed her son as she sat down at the table across from him. She rolled her eyes with a chuckle, dismissing his suspicious reaction to her question. Her motherly instincts could tell her something was different, something about her son's demeanor had changed, an alteration that was definitely for the better. She couldn't, however, put her finger on the cause. Eventually, knowing Dash, he would talk to her about whatever was on his mind.

Dash, nevertheless, was worried that his mother knew exactly what her son was thinking. She had this way of knowing, the main reason why Dash couldn't get away with flat out lying, despite the fact that he had done more than just speak with Danny since the end of the school year, but he wasn't ready to talk to her about it, considering it still had to sink in on his level. He still got the occasional panic attack when he thought about if Danny had found out about his feelings, before reminding himself of what had happened. He was also confused by the looks his mother kept giving him from across the table, almost urging him to speak his mind, to get his feelings off his chest. His mother, howbeit, was not the type to force her son to talk, so he knew she wouldn't persist as long as he didn't let his guard down. Dash blew out the breath he realized he was now holding, resolving to talk to her later.

Danny sat with Jazz in her bedroom, serious look plastered on his face.

"I need you to promise me this, Jazz."

"Danny, you can trust me."

"Can I?"

"They still don't know about your ghost powers, do they?"

"Touché."

"I won't say a word to anyone, not mom, not dad, not Sam, not Tucker, no one."

"I'm trusting you, Jazz."

"Relax, little brother."

"And stop calling me that, I'm taller than you."

"What about baby brother then?"

"What about 'No'."

"You're no fun, Danny; I don't know what Dash sees in you."

"Shut up."

Jazz stuck her tongue at the boy, causing his serious face to droop into a glare. Jazz was about to say something when an explosion rocked the house. Completely unalarmed, the sibling duo knew precisely what had caused the tremor. As they descended the stairs, smoke billowed from the lab in the basement, followed by a set of coughing, blackened parents.

"Just had a little equipment malfunction, kids, nothing to worry about." Maddie told her children with a nonchalant wave of her hand, the other dusting off her suit.

"Looks more like a catastrophic meltdown, Mom." Jazz retorted.

"Nah, the Fenton Ghost Magnetic Ectoplasm Attraction Cannon is a perfect piece of machinery, it just needs a bit more power." Jack boasted.

"Have you considered a shorter name, Dad?" Danny rebutted.

"Why on Earth would I do that?"

"No reason."

The two children looked at each other in exasperation before turning to leave their parents to their shenanigans, heading back upstairs.

The numbers on the clock blared an ostentatious red in the otherwise colourless and unlit dimness, 4:43 AM. Dash rolled over in his bed, head facing the window. The warm summer air was blocked off by the blinds, completely shut. Dash stretched an arm out, pulling them open. The moonlight poured in, casting a blue-white light into his room, bathing the various surfaces. The moon's rays had a therapeutic effect on Dash, easing his overly-restless mind to a dull roar. He closed his eyes, but the darkness was short-lived, as a tapping noise had caught his attention. His vision cleared to a set of glowing green eyes.

"Boo"

"Danny?"

"No, I am the Box Ghost, of course it's me."

"What are you doing here; it's like quarter to 5 in the morning."

"Just passing through."

"Was that a ghost joke?"

"I never meant it to be, but sure."

Dash sighed and inched closer to the window, opening it up wider. Danny glided through the opening, and through Dash's arm, and into the room itself. He landed, making the shift back to his human form, and walked over to Dash's bed, sitting on the edge.

"What's wrong?"

"It-it's nothing."

"C'mon Dash, tell me what's wrong."

"Really, I'm fine."

Danny's mouth slowly made the transition into a pout, his eyes widening.

"Christ, Danny, not that look."

Danny's pout-y face persisted, and Dash quickly gave in.

"Alright, fine. I'm just-I haven't told my mother about us yet, and it's eating me up inside."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I've had ghost powers for over three years and my parents still don't know. Besides, your mother likes me, right?"

"She thinks you're a really sweet guy and wishes you hung out here more."

"Then do we have good news for her." Danny chuckled, the moonlight illuminating his facial features. Dash sat up and brought a hand to his temple.

"It's not that easy, though."

"Dash, I've met your mother, she's not gonna care what you are, she'll love you the same."

"I know, but part of me just…" Dash was cut off by the sound of his bedroom door opening.

"Dash, do you have any idea what time it-oh-um…" His mother began to scold, slowly losing her train of thought. She saw the young man sitting next to her son at 5 in the morning, the boy she had hoped to see more often, and was now befuddled.

"Mom, you remember Danny."

"Hi, Ms. Baxter." Danny greeted with a quirky wave.

"Dash, I" His mother attempted to form a sentence.

"Mom, I can explain."

Danny looked between the two blank faces of mother and son, and got an idea, a last ditch attempt to make this situation resolve itself. He scooted closer to Dash and grabbed onto either side of his face, pulling him into a kiss. Dash's mother went wide-eyed initially, quickly returning to normal, and then the corner of her mouth curled into a smile. Dash separated the mouths of him and the raven haired teen and looked at his mother, not registering the smile right away.

"Mom?"

"Well, this certainly is an unconventional way to come out to your mother, Dash; I just wished you had done it at a more reasonable hour."

"So you aren't upset?"

"Honey, why would I be upset, I love you no matter who you love, who, by the way, is a nice young man. I approve wholeheartedly. Danny, you're welcome here anytime you want, just try to keep the noise down, you two."

Denise was about the leave her son's room when a thought occurred to her.

"Say, Danny, how exactly did you get to Dash's room without so much as a peep?"

Dash and Danny glanced at each other, trying to think of an excuse.

"I'm really good at tiptoeing… quietly?" Danny lied through his teeth. Dash mentally slapped an open palm to his face, frustrated by the terrible excuse. In her state of tiredness, on the other hand, Dash's mother wasn't really fazed by the reply.

"Well if you want to spend the night here, next time just knock on the front door at a reasonable hour and come in."

"Will do."

The door closed with a soft click and left the two males alone.

"Danny, can I go back to sleep now?"

"Well to be fair when I got here you were awake."

"Danny just get in this bed and go to sleep."

Danny smiled, slipped his shoes off, setting them next to the bed, and lay next to Dash, who pulled him close, taking the smaller boy by surprise.

"Problem?"

"No, I should've figured you were a cuddler." Danny chuckled.


	11. Confessions

Well believe it or not, tomorrow is Christmas. I'll leave this here for everyone. I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank anyone and everyone who has read this and stuck around, and to wish you and yours a happy whatever it is you choose to celebrate.

* * *

The two week timespan that preceded the return of Sam, Tucker and Kwan passed in a very consistent manner. Danny would go over to Dash's house just about every day, leaving Jazz to cover for her brother's absence. She was less than thrilled about it, but realized she had no choice at this point; a promise was a promise, although she did intend to talk to Danny about the situation eventually. The couple, still at the point where they weren't ready for their relationship to go public, spent much of the time together at Dash's house. His mother had no objection, and the fact that she worked a full-time job made her exposure to the two of them more reasonable. Danny attempted to stay at Dash's house any chance he got, but his parents' increasing suspicion and Jazz's inability to constantly cover her brother's ass made it more of a hassle to spend the night away from home. Dash had managed to make it into Danny's house once or twice in conjunction with the random disappearance of his parents on their ghost hunting escapades. Both occasions involved Jazz trying to avoid the pair while still maintaining a minimum level of surveillance on Dash, whom she still did not completely trust. The day before their trio of friends was set to return Danny had begged Dash to go somewhere less private, which involved waiting until the wee hours of the morning to goof around in the park. It was enjoyable, to an extent, but Dash couldn't help but feel paranoid, worried that an unsavory character might spot them and spill the beans prematurely.

The sun broke through the early morning twilight, covering the town with orange tendrils of warmth. Danny rolled over in his bed, a beam of light hitting him in the face head-on. Squeezing one eye shut, opening the other, he sat up slowly. He had agreed to meet Sam and Tucker at Sam's house in a few hours. Dash was meeting up with Kwan, so they agreed to talk later in the day. A quick glance at his clock showed the time, 8:45 AM, giving him about 2 hours to putz around. He took his time getting out of bed and getting dressed, hampered by the heat that the day had already amounted to. Fortunately it wasn't humid, not currently, so Danny didn't have that sticky, sluggish feeling to him as he pulled the shirt over his head. Danny was about to open the door when it slowly became increasingly ajar, a small knock coming before it.

"Danny?" Jazz called into the room, already halfway inside.

"Can't you knock first?"

"I did."

"Technically you knocked and opened the door at the same time, it doesn't count."

"Whatever, anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Shocker." Danny mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"N-nothing, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well it's about you and Dash."

"Oh no, I think I know where this is going."

"Look, I'm not saying he's ALL bad," She got going, putting emphasize on the word 'all' as she spoke, "But I just don't trust him given his past."

"Look, Jazz, I know you're hung up on the past and can't let things go, but people change."

"I'm not hung up on the past, I just can't accept the fact that someone could change so drastically in so little time."

"Jazz, we aren't having this discussion again."

"Danny, just here me out."

"No, I'm done listening to you, all you do is bash on my boyfriend, who is a great guy in case you hadn't noticed, which from the sound of it you hadn't, and I would really appreciate it if you stopped."

"But Danny, I…"

"SHUT UP!" Danny shrieked, pushing his sister backwards out of his room. He quickly slammed the door shut, locking it. A pounding immediately followed, Jazz's voice accompanying it. Danny grimaced as he phased himself through the floor of his bedroom and into the living room. The faint sound of Jazz could still be heard as he stormed out the door, mood soured by his sister. His walk to Sam's house was more of an aggravated trek, and by the time he got there he wished he could just go home. He checked the time; he had about 10 minutes before he was supposed to show up, but he could hear Sam's voice from inside, so he decided now was as good a time as ever. As he knocked on the door, the sound of footsteps could be made out.

"Danny, hey-whoa, what's with the face?" Tucker asked as he greeted his friend.

"Jazz has been increasingly opinionated and overly concerned about things lately, but that's a story for later."

"O-okay, so anyway-Hey, come on in, Sam said she'd be right down."

Danny followed his friend inside, closing the door as he entered. The house was eerily quiet considering they had just come back from vacation, but knowing Sam and her family Danny wasn't surprised.

"Danny, man did I miss you." Sam exclaimed as she came down the stairs.

"I missed you guys too."

"Danny, what's up, you look upset."

"Jazz has just been on my case more than usual, you know how she gets."

"Haha, yeah, your sister can be a bit unbearable."

"Enough about her," Danny put an end to the discussion, "What do you guys wanna do?"

"I was hoping we could just hang around here."

"I agree with Sam, I'm beat. Who knew taking a vacation could be this exhausting?"

"Tucker you didn't do a thing for a whole month."

"Hey, lazing takes a lot of effort."

"Pfft, whatever, so what do you think Danny?"

"I guess I'm alright with just hanging out. Truth be told this whole Jazz thing put me in a sour mood, so I could do with a bit of quality bullshit time."

"Great."

The trio made their way up to Sam's bedroom, their usual hangout spot, with no particular activity in mind.

Dash sat on his front steps, aimlessly watching the clouds, when his cellphone began to ring. He checked the caller ID and smirked.

"'Bout time you called, Kwan." Dash answered enthusiastically.

"Shut up, I had to get home first." The voice on the other end chuckled.

"Well you better get yourself settled quick, 'cause I'm just about to head over to your house."

"Man I don't need to get myself all dolled up for you; we've been friends long enough that you don't deserve it anymore."

"Whatever man, I'll be over in a few."

"Alright man, I'll see you soon."

Dash hung up the phone and stood up, slipping the device in his pocket as he did. Naturally he intended to tell Kwan about him and Danny, not that it would faze Kwan, but his mind kept drifting back to Sam and Tucker. He knew Danny would tell them eventually, but he didn't know when. He also didn't know how well they would react, and what part would be harder, the coming out part, or hearing that their best friend was dating the person who tormented him in the past. Danny had assured Dash that no matter how they reacted, no matter how upset they got, it wouldn't change a thing about their relationship, but Dash couldn't help but fret. The walk to Kwan's house was second nature for him, so he managed to get there with little thought, which left more of his mind available to agonize over Danny's friends. He stood deep in thought, giving an absentminded knock on Kwan's door. When his friend answered, he didn't register it right away, causing Kwan to make an ass out of himself, waving his hands in front of Dash's face and making noises to get his attention. Eventually Dash found himself back on Earth, much to Kwan's relief.

"For a minute I was worried you weren't in there anymore."

"I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"Well be careful, you don't want to hurt yourself."

"Knock it off, man."

"I'm just messing with you, Dash, calm down."

"Sorry, I just-nevermind, let's just go do something."

"Well I kinda just wanted to chill out."

"Works for me, it's too hot to go anywhere anyways."

"I'm surprised you made it here without dehydrating."

Kwan let out a giggle as Dash raised his eyebrows agitatedly. They both made their way to Kwan's room, the owner of said room flopping onto his bed in an undignified manner that resembled a flailing motion. Dash grabbed the desk chair and sat down in it.

"So, how was your trip?"

"You know, it actually wasn't that bad. South Korea is a pretty cool place, even if my family is a bit unbearable. I mean they're okay, especially because I don't have to deal with them too often, but at the same time it's like visiting with complete strangers."

"Bummer."

"Nah, I had a good time. I think I may go again next summer. So," Kwan paused, devilish grin slowly creeping on his face, "What have you been up to for the past month?"

"Not much really."

"What about you and Fenton?"

"Well…"Dash hesitated. Kwan had sat up, literally on the edge of his seat, face eager for more information.

"Dude, don't leave me hanging, did you get with him or not?"

"Yeah."

"Seriously? Aw man, it's like my…"

"If you say 'it's like my OTP's become canon' I'm going to break your jaw."

"I'm sorry, Dash, but this is just too good. I knew you'd man up eventually. So how'd your mom take it?"

"What do you think?"

"You literally have the best mom."

"Yeah, she's super cool and really accepting, and she really likes him too."

"What about his parents?"

"He hasn't built up the courage to tell them, not yet, but Jazz knows."

"His sister knows?"

"Yeah, but she promised not to tell anyone, and hopefully she meant it."

"But wait, is Danny gonna tell his two friends?"

"I think so, I mean if he doesn't they'll find out eventually, but I don't know if he's ready."

"Well don't rush him."

"I know that, I'm just worried about what'll happen after they find out."

"I'm sure they'll be cool with it."

"So Danny, what did you do while we were gone?"

"Did you take my advice and make some internet friends?"

"No Tucker, I didn't."

"Shame."

"So what did you do?"

"I bet you had an action packed month of ghost fighting."

"No Tucker, I didn't"

"Then what DID you do?"

"Well…"

Danny stopped midsentence. He knew eventually that he'd have to tell them about him and Dash; he just wasn't sure when the right time would be. He wanted to tell them now, get it over with and deal with it as soon as he could, but he just couldn't get the words out. He was worried, how would they react, not just to him coming out, but about Dash. He had to stop being such a pessimist, he was sure Kwan already knew, hell he was pretty sure Kwan encouraged Dash to make a move in the first place, why couldn't he come clean to his friends. He exhaled, mustering up all the courage he could.

"Guys," He eyed his friends, "I have something to tell you."


	12. Distress

"You're WHAT?!" The horrified response of both of Danny's friends emanated from their mouths and collided with the ears of the reluctant teen. He immediately regretted his decision, wishing he had just kept he truth bottled up like he had originally intended to do. He looked between the two, hoping that at least one of them would say something, anything at this point. He would soon regret this wish, as Tucker had quite a bit to say.

"How could you do this, Danny?"

"What?"

"How could you do this to us?"

"Tucker, what are you talking about?"

"We go away for a month and come back to this?"

"You aren't making sense, Tuck."

"No, you're not making any sense. How could you just, how could you betray us like this?"

"Betray you? How did I betray you?"

"Danny, think about it, how can you just fall in love with some asshole who ruined your life for years?"

"You don't know Dash like I do, Tucker."

"I know him well enough. I know that for the first two years of high school he mercilessly tormented you. I know that he doesn't care about you and I know he doesn't give a shit about how you feel."

"What the fuck did you just say to me?"

"I said he doesn't care about you."

"Who the fuck do you think you are to tell me shit like that?"

"I don't know who you think I am, but I was under the impression that I was your best friend."

"Well what kind of best friend would say shit like that?"

"A best friend who doesn't want to see you get hurt."

"And just how do you know I'm going to get hurt? Have you so much as thought about how Dash has changed in the past few months? People aren't static; they don't just sit there and stay the same for their whole lives."

"But"

"And another thing, who the fuck do you think you are to tell me who I'm allowed to fall in love with? You say you're my best friend, but if you're going to act like this, then I don't want anything to do with you."

"Well if this is what YOU are like now, the feeling's mutual."

Sam had had enough of this ridiculous bickering, and finally found a spot to interject.

"Look, I don't exactly trust Dash, or like him for that matter, but shouldn't we give him the benefit of the doubt? People DO change. If Danny can learn to love him given his past, maybe he's not all bad."

"I knew I could count on you, Sam."

"That doesn't mean I'm happy with the news, Danny, I can't believe you kept this a secret for so long."

"Yeah, we're supposed to be your best friends, how could you not even tell us that you were gay?"

"Is that what this is about?" Danny turned to Tucker, seething.

"What-No, I don't care if you like other guys, I just…"

"That's what this is about. It's not because I like Dash, It's-How could you be this-You know what, I'm done here. Fuck you, Tucker; you're a hateful bigot and a terrible friend."

Without so much as a remorseful glance, Danny shoved his friends aside and stormed out of Sam's room, ignoring their pleas for him to wait. He couldn't believe what he had heard, or what his mind had told him he heard. Regardless of the actual meaning, he had his friends' opinions, and he couldn't accept them.

"You actually got to meet PSY?" Dash was astounded.

"Yeah, well I didn't get to talk to him or anything, but he shook my hand and let me take a picture with him really quick." Kwan said, flashing the photo in front of his jealous friend. Dash took the photo and held it up to the light, checking its authenticity.

"Man, next time you go you gotta let me come."

"I don't think I'll see him again, dude."

"It doesn't matter, I can't know for sure until I go myself."

"You're crazy, Dash."

"Whatever."

"So do you think he told 'em?"

"I don't know, man."

"Well he's got a cellphone, call him up."

"Right now?"

"Yeah, I mean he probably knows I know, so it's not like me being here matters."

"But"

"Just call him, dude."

Dash sighed and removed his phone from his pocket. He scrolled down his contact list and stopped on Danny's name, clicking a button. The phone rang a few times before going to voicemail.

"He isn't picking up."

"Maybe he's still with his friends."

"Probably. I'll call him later, I don't wanna bother him."

Denise was enjoying the peace and quiet, she wasn't expecting Dash home for a while, and that meant Danny wouldn't be around either. For a brief moment she noticed the solemn loneliness of the situation. She made a mental note to think about getting a cat, and went back to the TV program in front of her. Over the laughter of the talk show, hosted by a famous woman who enjoyed dancing and voicing animated fish in children's movies, she could make out a faint pounding. At first she thought it was her imagination, but as the noise persisted she realized it was someone at the door. The knocking was still present as she approached the door, and when she answered it she was taken back.

"I-Is Dash here?"

"No, Danny, he's still over Kwan's house. Dear, why are you crying?"

"Nothing-it's nothing. Can you tell him I stopped by?"

"Danny, I'm a mother, I know you don't expect me to believe your excuse. I'll ask you again, what's wrong?"

"I-it's a long story."

"Then come inside and you can tell me."

Sam and Tucker were sitting on the former's bed, silence surrounding them, suffocating the two teens. Sam couldn't bring herself to talk to her boyfriend about what had just happened, and Tucker didn't feel like talking at all. They would occasionally glance at each other, turning away when their eyes happened to meet.

"Tucker," Sam broke the silence, "We're going to have to talk about this."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Tough, time to start talking. What happened to you earlier?"

"I don't know, Sam, I just lost it. I felt so angered and betrayed and blindsided by this."

"But what you said to Danny"

"I MAY have overreacted a little."

"A little?"

"Okay, I overreacted, a lot."

"Did you mean all the things you said?"

"Not all of them. I don't have a problem with Danny liking other guys, but why Dash?"

"The heart wants what the heart wants, Tucker."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means that you can't help who you fall in love with."

"I think that's bull."

"It doesn't matter, Tucker, Danny wanted to tell us, he chose to let us know, and look how you reacted."

"How I reacted? What did you do?"

"Okay, I wasn't 100 percent supportive, but I didn't flip my shit on him."

"We gotta go talk to him, don't we?"

"What do you think?" Sam placed a hip on her hand, sassiness dripping from her voice.

"Danny, dear, I'm sure your friends just weren't expecting you to tell them that. I bet if you give them some time they'll come to terms with it."

Danny was about to reply when the door opened.

"Mom, I'm home."

Danny instantly registered Dash's voice and muttered a curse under his breath. He didn't want to be seen like this, so he made sure to keep quiet.

"Oh Dash, honey, would you come up here?"

"Hang on, Mom, I gotta call Danny and ask him something."

"I think you'll want to come up here first."

"But"

"Dash, get up here this instant or I swear to God I will"

Before she even got a chance to finish her sentence the sound of footsteps cut her off.

"Danny, what are you doing here?"

Dash took a few steps toward the raven haired male before he was able to make out something that worried him.

"What happened, why were you crying?"

"I-I told them."

"Oh?"

"They didn't take it well."

"O-oh."

"Yeah."

"Danny, I"

"No, it's fine. I was expecting them to react how they did, well not to that degree, but" The tears kept him from completing the statement, Danny stopping to let out a choking sob. Dash was by his side in mere seconds, arms pulling him close.

"I'll leave you two." Denise announced as she made her way out of the room. She knew she couldn't help at this point.

"I-I just never expected Tucker to react like that, Dash, he-he-he said that"

"What did he say?"

"He said you would never really love me, that people can't change, and he didn't trust you."

"What?"

"And I mean Sam was a little less verbal, she wasn't too thrilled that it was you, but Tucker just-God, what am I supposed to do?"

Dash was at a loss for words. He was worried that this would happen, he couldn't help but feel that he had just ended the only real friendships Danny had, and it made his heart ache. The only thought that came to him was to pull Danny closer, hold him tighter, and whisper to him that would be okay. He couldn't promise that it would be, in fact at this point he didn't know if it would be, but it seemed to quiet Danny a bit. Dash stroked the boy's ebony hair, feeling the shaking sobs stop.

"Dash?"

"Hmm?"

"Whatever happens between me, Sam and Tucker, it won't change things between us. If they can't accept you, it's their problem."

"Danny, you can't just let them go like that. I'm sure-I'm sure that they just need some time to get used to the idea."

"That's the same thing your mother said."

"Then you know it's gotta be right."

"You two are a lot alike, Dash."

"I can imagine." Dash sighed, blinking slowly. "Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't listen to Tucker."

"What?"

"I'll always love you; don't believe for a second that I don't."

"I-I love you too, Dash."


	13. Conversation

A pillow quickly muffled out the knocking noise that had stirred Tucker from his sleep. He knew exactly who it was, and he knew any minute his parents would eagerly welcome the cause in. He was dreading this so much.

"Tucker," His mother called from downstairs, "Sam is here."

"Great." He moaned to himself. He discarded the covers quickly and pulled himself out of bed. He threw on some clothes and trudged down to greet his girlfriend.

"Good morning, sunshine." Sam smiled, teasing the boy.

"Hey."

"You ready to do this?"

"No."

"What are you two doing today?" His mother asked curiously.

"Nothing Mom."

"Oh, alright, you kids and your secrets. Just don't stay out all night."

"Yes Mom."

His mother smiled and left them to their secret plans. Tucker sighed and looked at Sam.

"Do we have to do this?"

"Yes."

"You sure we can't just"

"No."

"But Sam"

"No buts, Tucker, you need to go talk to Danny."

Tucker refused to budge, though, and Sam gave a frustrated growl.

"Tucker, we aren't playing this game."

She walked around and gave him a push, but he stayed in the same spot as before.

"Okay, I guess we ARE playing this game."

She summoned all of her might and gave Tucker a shove, sending him stumbling towards the door. Sam took the opportunity to push him closer to the door, guiding him outside and down the sidewalk. The walk to Danny's house was sure to be an unpleasant one.

Jazz was caught off guard by the sound of someone outside. She silently hoped that it would be Danny as she opened the door, bringing herself face to face with Sam and Tucker.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We're here to see Danny."

"Well I'm sure you'd like to, but he's not here."

"He isn't?"

"No, he never came home last night."

Sam and Tucker looked from Jazz to each other, both wondering where Danny was.

"You two can wait for him I suppose, it's awfully quiet by myself."

"Where are your parents?"

"Off gallivanting again."

As Dash slowly shook off his state of sleep, he couldn't help but notice how sore his back felt. With a soft exhale he opened his eyes, looking around to take in his surroundings. He noticed that he was not in his room, in his bed, but on the couch in the living room. Had he fallen asleep here last night? It was then that he realized he wasn't alone on the couch. He looked down to see Danny, curled up against his chest, still asleep. Dash smiled and nudged the smaller boy gently. Danny moaned softly and opened an eye.

"Morning." His voice was about the volume of a whisper.

"What's going on?" Danny asked, confused by the unfamiliar surroundings.

"We fell asleep on the couch."

"Oh."

"You remember what happened last night?"

"Yeah."

"You feeling any better."

Danny paused for a moment, eyes rolling to the side as he thought.

"I think so, although I'm not looking forward to confronting Tucker about this."

"Maybe you won't have to?"

"Dash, he's my best friend, eventually I'll have to."

"Well it doesn't have to be today, right?"

"Nah, I'm not in any hurry to have this discussion."

"At least when you do you'll have Sam to back you up, right?"

"I don't know, she wasn't too thrilled with the news either."

"Neither was your sister."

Danny's smile deflated quickly at the mention of his older sibling. In all the excitement yesterday he had forgotten all about his argument with Jazz. He let grumble and slumped into the back of the couch.

"What?"

"I had an argument with Jazz yesterday morning."

"About?"

"You."

"Oh."

"Yeah, apparently she still doesn't believe that you could change this drastically this quickly or some bullshit. To be completely honest as soon as she mentioned your name I blocked her out since I could infer what she'd be saying. I'm just so tired of people saying this, you know?"

"I can't say I do, but it doesn't really bother me."

"It doesn't?"

"'Course not, who do I have to prove anything to but you?"

"Well I suppose your mother."

"Well she goes without saying, 's'why I didn't say her, but other than the two of you I don't have to prove anything to anyone."

"But it doesn't upset you?"

"I mean yeah they got a lot of nerve saying it, but I'm not gonna let it get to me."

Danny was shocked by Dash's reaction, he thought for sure he'd get at least a little mad, but he seemed almost unfazed by it. This in itself was enough proof to show that Dash had changed, and it made Danny admire him.

"C'mon, I'll walk you home."

"Thanks, but you don't have to."

"I know, but I want to. Besides, that way you won't have to deal with Jazz on your own."

"So why was Danny in such a bad mood yesterday morning?" Sam directed her thoughts at Jazz.

"We had an argument."

"Well we knew that, but, um, what was it about?"

"Oh nothing, sibling drama, y'know?"

Sam and Tucker raised an eyebrow in a synchronized fashion, not buying Jazz's mediocre excuse.

"Alright, fine, don't tell Danny I told you this, but, he's"

"We know about him and Dash." Tucker cut her off.

"You do?"

"Yeah, he told us yesterday."

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that one of you"

"Tucker." Sam interjected.

"Okay, I'm guessing that Tucker overreacted, Danny jumped to conclusions, and you both screamed at each other before he stormed out."

"It's like you were there." Sam crossed her arms.

"I know you guys. Anyway, yes Danny and I had an argument about it yesterday."

"Why?"

"I've been pretty skeptical about the legitimacy of Dash's personality makeover since day one of their relationship, and I just wanted to tell him to be careful, but in typical Danny fashion he freaked out. To be honest, I may have been a bit overbearing and overprotective. Danny is a big boy now, I might not trust Dash but I should at least be able to trust him."

"See, she doesn't trust him either!" Tucker exclaimed, Sam rolling her eyes.

"That may be the case, but Dash does seem, well, different, from even back when I was in high school. My only option right now is to give Dash the benefit of the doubt."

"That's what I said to Tucker."

Tucker let out an audible grunt of frustration and crossed his arms. Jazz sighed at looked at the pair, surprised that Danny had even bothered to tell them in the first place. Just as she was about to speak, the front door opened and the aforementioned male walked in hand in hand with the subject of argument. The group of five looked at each other, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife.

"Well this-this is awkward." Danny finally squeaked out.


	14. Good

The room right now felt like a ticking time bomb, someone had to diffuse it, and that responsibility had apparently fallen on Jazz's shoulders. She cleared her throat the four younger persons turned to look at her, hoping that she could offer a viable solution to the situation at hand.

"Say, um, Dash, why don't we have a private conversation in the kitchen?"

Dash looked from Jazz to her little brother. He nodded to show his approval. Their hands separated and the blonde followed the redhead to the kitchen.

"Hey, I'll come too." Sam proclaimed as she followed the pair, leaving Danny and Tucker alone. The duo locked eyes and glared at each other, crossing their arms simultaneously.

"Tucker."

"Danny."

That was the only conversation they managed initially. From the kitchen, the trio watched the event unfold, silently wishing it to work out. Both of these males were stone walls, stubborn and unwilling to budge in any direction. Naturally Tucker wore down first; he was in the wrong after all. With a sigh, he uncrossed his arms and began speaking.

"Okay look, I'm sorry that I overreacted. I guess I was just caught off guard is all. I don't have a problem with you liking dudes, it's more of the dude you like that I have a problem with."

Danny cocked a suspicious eyebrow, showing he was listening. Tucker took this as a sign to go on.

"When we got here we talked with Jazz, and she had said what Sam said, that while they may not be okay with it, they trust that you know what you're doing and to give Dash the benefit of the doubt or whatever."

"And?"

"And I guess that I can't really assume he hasn't changed?"

"And?"

"I'm sorry for what I said about him not being honest with you?"

"Good."

"Good?"

"Yes. I'm not entirely blameless in this; I did jump to conclusions with what you were trying to say. But I'm telling you right now, and this goes to you two too," Danny motioned to Sam and Jazz, who he was aware were listening intently, "If any of you try to fuck up my relationship you'll have me to deal with, and I will not be reasonable and forgiving like I am right now."

"Deal."

"Good, now I would like to spend my last few days of vacation in a GOOD mood."

And that is what they did. Sam and Tucker managed to open up to Dash, albeit reluctantly, but Dash didn't force them to accept him, which was both relieving and surprising. They managed to see Danny a bit, although he was with Dash most of the time, which gave them an insight as to how he felt when the couple had gotten together last year.

The clock glowed brightly in the early morning sunrise, 7 AM. Danny groaned. He had one last day of summer, but his parents had suggested he wake up early so it would be easier tomorrow, when it actually mattered. He managed to drag himself out of the bed, although it still beckoned him as he got dressed. Something about being up already didn't sit right with him. Something else that struck him as unsettling was the degree of silence at this point. Jazz had left for college the night before, and both his parents were asleep, home in what seemed like forever. Danny sighed.

"I still don't know how to tell them."

To be completely honest, he was pretty good at keeping things from his parents. After about three years, which seemed like a lot more to Danny, they still had no idea about his powers, but he was worried that they would gladly take that over his orientation. He cringed and ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back and holding it there. Jazz had kept her secret and hadn't told a soul, about both his secrets actually. He really felt guilty about not trusting her, he'd be sure to apologize the next chance he got. His thoughts stayed on the subject of secrets for a minute, but he ended up thinking about Sam and Tucker. They had promised not to tell anyone, but that wasn't his concern. He knew Dash didn't mind if they didn't like him, in fact he could even understand why, but for some reason Danny couldn't accept that. He wished they could be more like Kwan, who was not only willing to accept Danny but actually encouraged Dash to spend more time with him as well. It certainly earned Kwan points in Danny's book, if anything. Speaking of Kwan-

"Hello?" Danny spoke as he answered his phone.

"Danny?"

"Kwan?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"You called me. How-how did you get my number?"

"Dash gave it to me. I suggested it."

"Why?"

"Well duh, if you wanna date my best friend you gotta get used to me too, right?"

"I do?"

"Well you want Sam and Tucker to get used to Dash, don't you?"

"I want them too, yeah, but they aren't too thrilled about the idea."

"Well that's where I differ from them. Dash and I are hanging out at my house today, and I better see you there too."

"I-uh-okay."

"Great! See you at like 12."

"Oh-okay."

And with that the call was over. Danny stood with the phone to his ear, completely detached from the real world at this point. He couldn't help but feel, well disturbed. He had just been talking about this, and then here was Kwan, telling him to come over completely unprompted by Dash. He tilted his head back and let out a guttural groan. He looked at the time on his phone, 7:25 AM.

Five hours managed to fly by. Dash knew that football practice was going to be dreadful tonight; the heat alone would make that a fact. He had to make sure he relished these last few hours before they were gone, because he knew after tonight the school year was going to suffocate him. As he turned the door knob to the front door of Kwan's house, knocking wasn't a thing they did, they were friends for too long to do that shit, he was surprised to see Danny standing in the living room.

"Danny?"

"H-hey, Dash."

"What-uh-what are you doing here?"

"I invited him over." Kwan announced as he came out of the kitchen.

"Okay, not that I mind, but, um, why?"

"Because I gotta get to know the guy dating my best friend, right?"

"I-I guess."

"I told him he didn't have to." Danny tacked on.

"But I wanted to, so I did."

Dash was genuinely happy that Kwan wanted to get to know Danny, but at the same time, looking at Danny's face, he could tell Danny felt bad, for one reason or another, most likely because his friends refused to do the same for Dash.

"Okay, so, yeah, let's stop being awkward and do something." Kwan tried to mitigate the uncomfortable atmosphere a little, hoping Danny would feel more relaxed and this whole plan wouldn't blow up in his face.

"What do you wanna do?" Dash wasn't helping the situation.

"Pffft, I dunno, video games?" Kwan shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess that works. Danny?"

"I-I could play some video games, sure." Danny rubbed his forearm anxiously, like he expected something would go wrong.

Danny was a bit uncomfortable at first. Okay, who was he kidding, he was jumpy and nervous as fuck, but eventually he was able to chill out, seeing that nothing would go wrong. He managed to beat both Dash and Kwan and managed to laugh at the most random moments, which proved contagious. The trio was reduced to giggles in no time, Kwan on the floor and Dash flopped over the arm of the couch, Danny face down on his chest. The whole aura of the room felt welcoming, humourous even. Eventually the passing minutes turned into ten, then 30, and soon an hour had passed. Before they even realized it, the commitment they had made to the football team summoned them, and they had to part ways. Dash had to leave first to walk home before meeting back up with Kwan at the school. He gave Danny a quick peck on the lips before patting his best friend on the shoulder and vanishing down the street. Danny got up to leave, but not before Kwan pulled him into a friendly embrace, catching him off guard.

"Now normally I only do that with Dash, but I figure I'll make an exception this one time. I'm glad you decided to hang out here today."

"I-I am too. I was kind of dreading it, but I'm glad I did."

"I can see why Dash likes you though. You are pretty cool, sorry that you have the nerd rep in school."

Danny shrugged his shoulders and chuckled, "It doesn't bother me really."

"Once people see you with Dash they might change their minds."

"We're-uh-not really ready to go public yet."

"Fair enough. But in the meantime you're always welcome here."

"Thanks, if only Sam and Tucker were as willing to accept Dash as you did me."

"He's the type of person that it takes time to get used to, they'll come around, eventually."

"You think so?"

"Honestly I don't know, but it's their choice."

"Yeah."

"Alright, I gotta get ready now, but I'll catch you in school tomorrow."

"I'll be seeing you."

"Take care, Danny."

"Bye Kwan."

As Danny began his trek home, he felt a mixture of disappointed and overjoyed. He did have a great time, but he still wished Sam and Tucker would be more like Kwan. He shook his head gently from side to side, trying to think of a way to get them and Dash to hang out and it not backfire completely. After running over several ideas in his head and disregarding them all, he gave up and decided to worry about it later. Besides, he had bigger issues to think over, like how he was going to break the news to his parents.

"This is going to be a long school year." Danny frowned to himself.


	15. Hesitance

Sorry I forgot to upload a new chapter on Monday, the semester got started back up and then I got into a car accident so it literally did not occur to me until today that I forgot.

* * *

The sound of the alarm clock's blaring sound was muffled by the echoing boom of thunder. The rain pounded on the ground outside of Dash's house, water blowing in through the open window and splashing him on the face. The cacophonous combination of noises reverberated throughout Dash's room, making sure that he was awake for the first day of his senior year. Dash slammed a hand onto the alarm, silencing it. He rolled onto his back, groaning. He knew he should be excited about starting the year, it was his last year, and it was supposed to be fun, but he couldn't shake the foreboding feeling that something terrible was bound to happen. A quick glance at the clock told Dash that it was time for him to haul his ass out of the bed and get ready, lest he be late for the first day. Having wasted enough time lying in his bed, he threw on some clean clothes and grabbed his backpack, making his way down the stairs.

"Dash, you need to eat breakfast."

"Sorry Mom, overslept, gonna be late."

"But Dash."

"Bye Mom."

The door slammed behind him, leaving his mother standing in the kitchen. She shook her head and turned back to the toaster, pushing the lever down.

With a forceful push, the doors to Casper High opened, allowing Danny to walk inside. The din of the collective student body greeted his ears unwelcomingly, but he didn't pay much mind to it. The faces were unclear to him as he walked through the hallways, ending up at his locker, where Sam and Tucker were waiting for him. He supposed that waiting was the wrong word, because right now they were too preoccupied holding hands and talking cute with each other. He opened his locker and placed a few things inside of it before slamming it hardly, startling the couple next to him. Tucker was about to give his two cents but Danny walked away before he got the chance too.

"Ooh, he ratchet." A voice could be heard exclaiming.

Danny was already done.

Dash had completely lost the ability to focus, his math teacher droning on about something he should've remembered from last year. He placed his hand on his chin and stared out the windows, the rain still falling from the clouds, which had not changed from their ominous, grey state. His thoughts, which were definitely not on math, had drifted to Danny. He smiled to himself, wondering what he was up to right now, what kind of uninteresting class he was in right now. He wished they had class together, so they could at least sit next to each other. He sighed inwardly, mildly displeased now. He really wished that they could be more open with their relationship, but they had come to an agreement that they would wait. It was killing him inside, but he understood the reasoning behind it. On the other hand, how bad could it really be?

Dash's train of thought was derailed as the bell rang. He grabbed his things and headed out the door, trying not to make eye contact with the teacher. The hallway was full of the hustle and bustle of kids reluctantly heading to their next class, and Dash was trying to avoid them all. He could explicitly make out the faces of the members of his fellow popular clique. He looked away, giving them the cold shoulder. As he rounded the corner, his state of distractedness caused him to collide with a fellow student. He felt himself make contact with the ground, heard the other person hit the ground, books scattering.

"Well this is familiar." He heard the voice say. He immediately made it out as Danny's. He opened his eyes and saw Danny sprawled out on the ground, paper and books surrounding him.

"Oh shit, Danny, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, it's fine."

Dash scooted himself over to Danny and pulled him up so that he was sitting on the floor. Danny collected the bits of paper that had dispersed and stuffed them into a binder that was placed in his lap. Dash looked around the hall, which was completely devoid of life except for the duo sitting on the grimy floor.

"So how's you first day going so far?" Dash tried to start a conversation.

"Miserable." Danny frowned.

Dash leaned closer to Danny and wrapped an arm around the smaller boy's waist, feeling him jump on contact.

"Danny relax, it's lunchtime, no one's gonna be in this part of the school right now."

"I know, I know. I hate keeping this under wraps."

"What if we don't try to hide it? What if people just-find out?"

"Not yet, Dash."

"Alright."

Dash quickly kissed Danny's cheek before removing his arm from the boy's waist and scooting away from him a few inches.

"So what's wrong?"

"I dunno, Dash, the whole day feels, well off."

"Yeah, this morning I woke up with the weirdest feeling that the school year was going to end up horribly."

"What do you mean?"

"You ever get that-that feeling that things are gonna go completely wrong?"

"Not lately."

"Maybe I'm just overthinking this."

"You can overthink?"

"Shut up, Fenton." Dash mocked, punching Danny's arm playfully.

The bell interrupted their conversation, followed by the slow hum of students exiting the cafeteria to head off to class. Dash got himself off the ground quickly, helping Danny up afterwards. Danny looked around, stealthily kissing Dash on the chin before running off to class. Dash sighed to himself before getting his ass to class too.

Danny's next class was English, which he had with Sam. He had noticed her sit down next to him, and was prepared for the worst.

"Hey Danny."

"Hey."

"So what was up with you earlier?"

"Nothing."

"C'mon Danny."

"I guess I'm just irritable today."

"School does that to people, but it's your senior year, you gotta enjoy it."

"Well with the amount of work I have to put into keeping secrets, it's hard to enjoy most things."

"You could always just come clean."

"You mean 'come out'?" Danny whispered.

"Well I didn't say that, but I guess you could put it that way."

Danny let his head fall to the desk with a thud. A muffled groan escaped his mouth and Sam shook her head.

"Oh come on, Danny, it's not that bad."

"Think about that statement, Sam, I'm gonna have to tell my parents about Dash, what do you think they'll say?"

"I don't know, Danny, but they can't change it."

"I've just gotta think of a way to do it."

"Just be honest with them."

"That doesn't always work with my parents, Sam."

"They hunt ghosts, Danny, not gay people."

The teacher cleared her throat, drawing the attention of the class. She began writing something on the board, but Danny really didn't care what it said. His thoughts shifted between Dash and his parents, a wave of frustration and hopelessness washing over him. He'd have to do it eventually, if this relationship was going to work out he'd have to work up the courage to come out and tell them.

"Or to come out in general." He mumbled to himself under his breath.


	16. Grease

After racking his brain for the remainder of the school day, Danny had found the words, he had built up the courage to come clean, and his parents, well, they weren't ready for it. That isn't to say Danny wasn't expecting their reaction, he was just hoping he was wrong. The look they gave him, the feeling that it displayed, sent a wave of regret down Danny's spine. Their words didn't sink in, just those faces, the eyes that bored holes through his heart. He was unable to argue back, to fight the losing battle he had taken part in. Tail between his legs, he had retreated to his room. The usually comforting space felt confining, like the walls would collapse in at any given second and suffocate him, adding to the crushing feeling his emotions put on his heart. It was too much for him, and, with the help of his ghost powers, he was out, phasing through the wall to the fresh air and open space that beckoned him. He landed in an alley with a soft thud, reverting to his human form. He had no real idea as to where he was going, but he knew anywhere would be better than his house right now. Mind running through a list of options, he managed to eliminate all of them, Dash was at football practice, as was Kwan, Tucker most likely wouldn't want to be bothered, Jazz was at back at school and Sam's advice to just tell them had gotten him into this mess. His mind mused on Valerie for a minute, but adding another variable into this equation would just make it harder to solve in the long run.

Sam was perched on the fire escape outside her room, book in hand. The sun was beginning to set, making it a bit cooler outside, the perfect place to get away from her overbearing parents and just relax for a bit. Of course, when a certain ebony haired friend of hers happened to walk by, she figured that she had done enough reading for the time being.

"Danny." She called to him. He didn't respond, however, which left her confused

"Hey, I'm talkin' to you, Danny."

Sam had to admit that Danny could be a little dense sometimes, but right now it felt like he was out of it, completely unaware. She climbed down the fire escape and managed to catch up to him.

"Yoo-hoo, Danny, you in there?"

"Oh, it's you."

"What? What did I do?"

"I took your advice."

"You told them?"

"No, I sang them a riveting number about it."

"Rude. So how'd it go?"

Sam knew that was the wrong question to ask as soon as Danny tensed up, clenching his fists together. Immediately she wished she could take it back.

"How does it look like it went?"

"I don't-know?"

"I'm out here wandering aimlessly in a helpless stupor, completely rejected by the only parents I will ever have, no one to turn to, all thanks to YOUR advice, and you're going to ask me how it went?"

"I didn't-"

"That's just it, you didn't, you never do, Sam. Do you know how hard it was for me to tell you and Tucker? Because if you multiply that by about a thousand, that is how hard it was to tell my parents, and look where it got me."

"Maybe they just need"

"I'm tired of hearing 'maybe they just need time to get used to it', Sam, that's everyone's go to when it comes to things like this. Why should I have to wait for people to accept things like this? In fact, why should I even care whether they do or not?"

"I-I don't"

"Exactly, I don't, that's exactly how I feel at this point."

"What?"

"I don't care what people think about me anymore, Sam, it isn't good. I was so nervous today, worried that someone would find out about my relationship with Dash, and you know what he said?"

"No?"

"He said he didn't care if people found out, he didn't care what they'd think of him, and I didn't agree with that. I was so worried that the smallest thing would ruin it, but you know what, who else do I have to worry about? My family already knows, my best friends already know, I don't have any reason to hide anymore."

Sam really had nothing to say at this point, she knew it would be better for Danny if he got all of this out of his system.

"That's it," Danny had cooled down a bit, more enthusiasm in his voice now, "Sam, that's it!"

"What's it?"

"I don't have to hide anymore. I can have a healthy relationship that I don't have to keep in the shadows, and I don't care who finds out."

"Wow, and they say they're worried about my mood swings."

"Thanks, Sam."

"What did I do?"

"Help me get over all this anxiety."

"Don't-don't mention it, Danny."

Danny gave her a quick hug before running off in the other direction, leaving the goth confused. She tried to make sense of the conversation she just had, but figured it didn't quite matter as long as Danny didn't have another mental breakdown.

The night's practice had just ended and Dash was getting his things from the locker room when a familiar voice called out to him.

"Danny?" was his response.

The voice in question did, in fact, belong to none other than Danny Fenton, the last person Dash expected to see here.

"Tell me about it, stud." Danny said, kissing the blonde on the cheek.

"Did you-did you just quote 'Grease'?"

"Only a little."

"I don't have to sing with you now, do I?"

"Only if you want to." Danny chuckled.

"Wait a minute, why are you all open and not paranoid now?"

"I told my parents about us."

"Oh?"

"Let's not talk about that."

"Oh."

"But it helped me realize something?"

"What's that?"

"I don't have any reason to hide our relationship anymore."

"What about everyone at school?"

"I can HONESTLY say I don't give two shits about their opinions at this point. My family knows, my friends know, I don't have anyone else to keep up appearances for."

"So does this mean?"

"Yes, it means that we can be an official couple now."

Dash's face lit up as he pulled Danny closer to him. The two kissed, and while a boy's locker room might not be the most romantic, or sanitary, place, it didn't matter at this point, all that mattered was that they had nothing to fear anymore, no one to hide from. They could finally be a couple, regardless of the views of the rest of the school.

Maybe they school year wouldn't be so bad after all.

Maybe…


	17. Catch

The blaring of the school bell sent kids shuffling through the hallways. The once energetic groups split into now unenthused teenagers headed for the first class of the day. The last minute locker dash echoed through the halls, those few kids who wanted that five more minutes making sure they weren't late. Danny wasn't one of those kids, but he did have to stop to get something he forgot in his locker. As he opened it, a piece of paper floated out of the locker and to the ground. Confused, Danny bent over to pick it up and unfold it. He read it and sighed.

The note read this: 'Danny, are we still doing this thing? I'm ready if you are, just like we discussed. –Dash'.

"Yeah, let's do it." Danny answered under his breath as he shut his locker and crumpled the paper in his pocket. He quickened his pace and made it to class right before the bell rang, he had made it on time. He took a seat next to Kwan, who smiled at him in that overly enthusiastic manner.

"Hey, sup Danny."

"Nothing much."

"I hear that, man."

"Yeah, so how are you?"

"Ah, I can't complain."

"I suppose."

"So, uh," Kwan lowered his voice and leaned in closer to Danny, "Are you two really gonna do this?"

"Why wouldn't we?"

"I dunno, social taboo?"

"Kwan, we don't care anymore, remember?"

"I guess. I gotta say I admire your courage."

"It's not about courage."

"I know, but still."

The discussion was abruptly cut short by the impatient throat clearing noise of the teacher. Both teens faced the board and their teacher began writing the day's objectives, something Danny remembered from last year. Danny rested his head on his hand, staring at the board.

Sam eyed the blonde boy from across the classroom. She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking. She looked away when he turned his head in her direction. She glanced sideways; he was still staring at her.

"What?" she mouthed.

"I need to talk to you." Dash mouthed back to her.

"Why?"

"It doesn't matter, it's important."

Sam was about to reply when the teacher announced they were to split into pairs. Before Sam knew what had happened, the seat next to her was filled with an athletic blond with a motor mouth.

"Why am I not surprised this happened?"

"I dunno, maybe it's fate?"

"Whatever, what do you need to talk about with me, Dash?"

"This whole thing."

"You mean your plan with Danny?" Sam asked, a little softer.

"Yeah."

"Cold feet? Second thoughts?"

"No, I'm looking forward to putting this all out in the open."

"Yo-you are?"

"Yes. You know love Danny. I want to be able to be open with my relationship with him." Dash's voice was barely a whisper now.

"R-really?"

"Yes. I know you don't like me, but you could at least try and be happy."

"I-I'm just… I'm surprised."

"Surprised?"

"Yeah, I just-I always thought you were a bad guy who was just going through a phase or trying to play with Danny's emotions, now-now I just feel bad. You were sincere this whole time."

"That's what I tried to tell you guys this whole time."

"I know. I guess I just didn't want to listen. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Remember, I never took it personally."

"So is that what you wanted to say?"

"No. Do ya-do you think Danny'll still want to go through with it?"

"You didn't come up with the plan yourself, did you?"

"Well no."

"Then don't worry. You'll make a cute class couple." Sam giggled.

"Yeah yeah."

Soon it was time. Danny could feel the knots in his stomach. The bell that started the lunch period sounded through the school, and soon the same roars that the early morning brought out could be heard again. Danny was leaning against the wall outside the cafeteria, hands shaking and mind full of doubt. A chill ran down his spine and his thoughts were silenced as a large pair of arms wrapped around him.

"You ready to do this?" Dash asked as he pulled Danny to him.

"Y-yeah."

"Danny, we don't have to do this if you aren't ready."

"No, no, I want this, I'm ready."

"Alright," Dash said as he removed his arms from the smaller male," Then I'll follow your lead."

Danny inhaled, composing himself. He wasn't going to back down, he would do this. He walked into the cafeteria and bought some food. With food in hand, he made his way by the popular table and, faking the motion of slipping, "spilt" the contents of the tray all over Paulina. She let out a deafening shriek and Dash came in, recognizing his cue.

"What happened?" He questioned as he walked over.

"This loser spilt his food all over my trendy new sweater."

"Hey, I slipped, what do you want from me?"

"I want you to pay for this."

"It was an accident."

"Oh, I'll show you an accident. Dash, are you just going to let this dork get away with this?"

"Well I guess not."

"Then do something about it."

"Oh, I will."

Dash stepped in front of Danny, who, in the back of his head, felt a feeling of nostalgia wash over him. He looked up at Dash, who towered over him. He had a grin on his face, but it wasn't the kind that would've accompanied this situation. It was a genuine grin. Dash grabbed Danny's shirt in his hand and pulled him into the air.

"Oh just hit him already." Paulina demanded, wanting a show for the crowd that was watching. And boy did she get a show. Dash's free hand did make contact with Danny's face, but it wasn't as much a punch as it was a gentle caressing motion. In a light pulling motion, Danny felt his face move closer to Dash's, their lips ultimately making contact. The immediate result was silence. The room of gawking teenagers was taken aback at the sight.

"Oh come on, it's just two guys kissing." A voice, which sounded very similar to Sam's, shouted. The crowd began to quickly lose interest, seeing as no one was getting injured or insulted, and went back to what they were doing. Paulina, however, still had a few things to say.

"THIS is why you rejected me a few years ago?" She shrieked at Danny. When the two males finally parted lips, Danny looked over at her with a smirk.

"Well no, but now that you mention it, I'm glad I did."

"Danny Fenton, you're not just a loser, you're a- you're a fag. And you, Dash, you aren't cool, you're a loser fag too!"

"Hey, that's not cool." Paulina heard a voice shout at her.

"Oh, you support this?"

"Yeah." The voice called back.

"You're so lucky I don't know who you are, or I would ruin you." She turned back to Danny and Dash.

"You two, I will RUIN your lives."

"You're not gonna ask us out, are you?" Dash replied with a chuckle. Danny let out a snort of stifled laughter and Paulina roared, turning around and stomping away.

"Hey Danny," A girl called out to him, though he didn't recognize her, "You hooked quite a catch."

"Haha, thanks." He said back.


	18. Chill

After Danny and Dash's little reveal, the rest of the calendar year went by painlessly. The teachers cranked up the amount of homework they were assigning, and with Dash's commitment to football, the two barely managed to scrape together any time to see each other. Danny, of course, still had a surprising amount of free time, so he tried to find something to do with it by getting a job. Not to his surprise, he couldn't, so he just opted to hang out at the school and watch the football team practice. A majority of the team either ignored him or cast him hateful glances, but a few of them actually waved, and not just Dash or Kwan either. Naturally he still hung out with Sam and Tucker on occasion, but they were more content spending time as a couple, just as Danny was more content watching Dash practice. Slowly he sat closer to the field, and he even began to gain an interest in the sport, something he had lacked for the longest time.

Soon the leaves began to change colour, and the cooler weather was welcomed with open arms. Amity Park had seen its hottest summer in decades, so when the cool autumn air finally settled in, everyone was in much better spirits. But seeing that Danny was naturally stubborn, the decrease in temperature was not a good enough reason for him to start wearing a jacket. This not only resulted in him getting colds frequently, but on days where he and Dash got to spend time together, Dash usually finished the night without his jacket, since he would more than willingly let Danny wear it the first time he thought the smaller male was cold, which happened very quickly. Danny's thick-headedness worried Dash, which, considering the thickness of Dash's skull, was saying something.

This night in particular, however, was different.

It was a Wednesday in October, one of the rare days that practice was not scheduled for whatever reason. Dash had asked Danny to go for a walk in the park where they had initially mused over their feelings for each other, and Danny happily obliged, but refused to wear a jacket, despite the fact that it had been the coldest day of fall so far.

"You sure you don't want to bring something in case you get cold later?"

"Dash, I'll be fine."

"But the weather said"

"The weather reports are wrong all the time. Besides, it really isn't that cold."

Dash shot the boy a questioning look.

"I'm fine, really."

"If you say so."

Danny wouldn't admit it, but he did notice a drastic drop in the temperature from the past few days. His first clue was when he had woken up and fogged up the bathroom mirror with his own breath, which he could still see on his walk to school. He tried to think about the warm summer they had just had, but it didn't do much good. He tried to suppress the shivers, but as soon as Dash felt the small tremors against his side he was removing his right arm from its sleeve. He pulled Danny in close and wrapped the jacket around his right shoulder.

When they had gotten back to Danny's house after walking around for a few hours, it started to snow. The storm was a freak fall blizzard, dropping about 6 and a half inches and cancelling school for the next two days. The snow was so heavy the first night that Danny's parents, albeit reluctant, had more or less forced Dash to stay overnight.

Before everyone knew it Halloween had come and gone, and soon they were all preparing for Thanksgiving. Dash had suggested going out early to shop on Black Friday, but Danny outright refused, saying he wasn't willing to be trampled at Wal-Mart over some ridiculous sale on something he didn't need.

"Besides," He felt the need to point out, "I don't have any money to spend anyway."

December crept in slowly, and soon school was out for the holidays. Danny was actually glad to see Jazz, apologizing to her for being a difficult shit as soon as he was able to. She was surprised to say the least, and, over the course of the semester away, had managed to think about her little brother's relationship and was more than supportive, which was still more than Danny could say about his parents. The whole holiday season, which was usually an uncomfortable time for Danny to begin with, felt even more awkward this time around, to the point where Danny had come close to sneaking out and climbing into Dash's house through the upstairs window.

Dash had convinced his mother, with very little effort on his part, to let Danny spend the next few days over. She was more than willing to let him spend as much time as he wanted, but his parents weren't as easy to convince. Not only were they still skeptical and unaccepting, they were intrusive and a bit judgmental as well. They didn't trust Dash or his mother, and only after Jazz pleaded Danny's case did they unwillingly give in to the boy's request.

The first night the power went out around 8pm. The cause, like back in October, was snow. The wind was unfathomable, knocking over trees all over the town. One came crashing down a mere few inches from Dash's house, but luck had been smiling on them that night, and it fell just to the left, crushing the neighbour's swing set instead. The whole town was bombarded, essentially shutting it down for a few days. Danny was stuck at Dash's house, not that he minded, lately he felt more at home there then he did at his actual home. Jazz called every now and then to make sure he was doing alright, not to worry about their parents, and not to risk his life to come home. Danny would reassure her that he would be fine and that he would wait until it was safe to even consider going home. Even after it was possible, Danny continued to stay at Dash's house through New Year's Eve. The winter break ended within the next few days, so he would most likely return home the day before it, but he had never been in a relationship for the new year. And naturally he and Dash shared a kiss as the ball dropped, Denise smiling to herself from the other room, content with the fact that the two would be starting the year with a clean slate, a whole year to be together without drama. She eyed the photo of a blond male in a police uniform from across the room and sighed, eyes filled with loneliness and longing. Both of those, however, were washed away by the overpowering emotion of sadness that surrounded her.

"If only you were here right now, to see your son, you'd be so proud of him."


	19. Past

The month of January went off without a hitch. The number of freak blizzards was minimal, and the teachers had cut the kids some slack due to the fact that midterms were only a few weeks away. Danny had urged Dash to start studying a few weeks in advance, but the blond was stubborn, and waited till last minute. A week before the first test Danny answered his phone to the sound of a frantic Dash begging him for help. Danny did eventually help him, but not without lecturing him first.

It paid off though, both teens taking away straight 'B's on all the exams. The second semester started on a good note, just as the year had. The mood of the school, particularly that of the seniors, was unusually high, given that it was only February, but everyone recognized the year was going by quickly, and they couldn't complain. Winter cold soon gave way to the spring, and eventually spring break was on everyone's heels.

"So do you guys have any plans for the break?" Danny asked the dynamic duo of Sam and Tucker as he placed a few books in his locker.

"Not really." Tucker replied.

"No family vacation plus Tucker this year?"

"That's usually in the summer, Danny." Sam pointed out.

"Whatever. So you guys aren't doing anything special?"

"Not really." Tucker repeated.

"What about you, Danny?"

"What do you think he's doing, Sam?"

"I don't know, that's why I asked."

"You know he's gonna be spending all week with Dash."

"Did someone mention me?"

Tucker turned around, bringing himself face to face with the aforementioned jock.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we were just talking about you."

"Were you now?"

It was worth noting that lately Danny's friends were getting along with Dash much more easily, engaging in banter like this quite frequently. It was nice, almost reassuring. Danny closed his locker and turned to face the trio.

"Okay, so, the day is almost over, and then we have a week off. There has got to be something you guys have planned." Danny insisted.

"Well, I did want to go see this new slasher flic that's playing at the movies."

"Slasher movies are so boring though." Tucker tried to point out to his girlfriend.

"Tucker, how could you say that?"

"Because it's true. They always end up the same way, the plot is always so predictable and the characters are so bland and flat."

"Famous movie critic Tucker Foley, everyone." Danny teased.

"I bet Dash agrees with me, don't you?"

"Who me?" Dash questioned.

"No, the other Dash, yes you. Don't you think slasher films are the same?"

"I've ne-I don't-I mean… I don't actually watch those kinds of movies."

"You don't?"

"N-not really."

"Too scary for ya?"

"NO, I just-they don't entertain me is all."

"Dude if they scare you it's okay."

"Just drop it, Tucker." Danny butted in.

"I'm not making fun of him or anything."

Danny glared at his loudmouthed friend, who got the message surprisingly fast, shutting his mouth.

"Okay, maybe I'll wait until it comes out on DVD." Sam thought out loud.

"I'll still go with you, Sam." Danny told her.

"Nah, it's fine."

Tucker leaned in closer to Danny and whispered, "You realize that means I'm going to get dragged to the movie theatre to see it anyway."

"Well since you volunteered." Sam said, clapping her hands together enthusiastically.

The first few days of the break had gone by a bit too quickly. Sam did drag Tucker to the movies, and Danny spent one of the days by himself while Dash was with his mother, who he thought might benefit from some mother-son bonding.

"Speaking of parents." Danny said to himself.

His parents were slowly coming to terms with their son's sexuality, not that they had a choice at this point. Danny, however, tried his hardest to avoid them, not wanting to take the chance of something causing a scene.

By Wednesday, Danny was back at Dash's house, the pair sitting on the sofa in the basement, speakers blaring some Dubstep song, accompanied by the roar of car engines as they raced against each other. Dash had finally found a genre of video game that he could beat Danny in every time, but Danny didn't mind. The way Dash's face lit up when he crossed the finish line in first place always made Danny smile.

Thursday was one of those days that was most likely responsible for the saying about April showers bringing May flowers. It wasn't a heavy rain, but it was a constant It was also cold that day, and the combination of rain and cold was enough to keep Danny curled up on Dash's couch. Dash, of course, took this as an invitation to cuddle, which the raven haired teen did not dispute. The silence covered them like a blanket, not awkward, not smothering, just comforting. But Danny had had something on his mind for a while, itching at the back of his brain.

"Hey Dash?"

"Hmm?"

"What made you decide to change?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, why'd you stop bullying? It seems weird that halfway through high school you just stopped out of the blue."

"People change."

"Yeah, but there's gotta be a reason, right?"

"I-I really don't wanna talk about it."

"Oh-okay."

"Yeah."

"Well if you ever want to."

"I'll be sure to let you know."

Truth be told, Dash did want to talk about it. It was something he wanted to get out, something that had been there taunting him since he decided to ditch the bullying act, and two years was a long time to hold on to something like this. He let out a sharp exhale and sat up.

"Dash?"

"I'll tell you."

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, I want to, just-just give me a minute."

Danny sat up as well, scooting over and giving Dash some space.

"Okay, this whole thing really started back when I was maybe two or three, I don't quite remember, point is it was a long time ago. My dad was a police officer, a good one too. My mom always told me how many people he had helped, and how brave he was. She said he always felt bad about not getting to spend more time with his family, but would always be there when we needed him. One day he was responding to an armed robbery, and he-he went in to try and diffuse the situation. H-he never made it out. It's easier to think about it now, since I didn't get to know him too well. But my mother took it hard, not just because she was upset, which of course she was, but because she was worried about me growing up without a father. She waited about a year, so I was probably about 5, when she started dating this man. She said that it was love at first sight, and that they were perfect for each other. But after they got married, he turned out to be a miserable bastard."

By now the tears had come. Danny wanted to console the boy, but he resisted.

"He beat us, both of us. Usually she got it worse than I did, because she would always try to protect me. I remember her trying to tell me about my father, how he wasn't like this, and that I would grow up to be like him and stop men like my step-father. She tried her hardest to make it work, but by the time I was about 8 she had finally gained enough courage to have the motherfucker locked up. That's also around the time we moved to Amity Park. I guess the thing she had feared the most, me becoming an abuser, had come true. At first I didn't think about it, I just got absorbed by the feelings that hurting people gave me, the power, the control. I guess other people noticed it too, and that's what got me into the popular group. I was an abusive jerk, who had the fear and respect of the entire school and it felt so good. But as I got more and more physical, and the more trouble I got in, the less respect I got from the people that actually mattered."

"Your mom?"

"Y-yeah. Her most of all, but you too. At first, when I figured out my feelings, I was mad, mad that I wasn't "normal". I took it out on you because I couldn't accept it. I guess part of me deciding to stop being a bully was the realization that these feelings weren't going to go away, and that hurting the people I love most made me just that the asshole who used to beat me when I was a child, not the police officer father I had to look up to."

"D-Dash." Danny was on the verge of tears as well. The thing that happened next was the most worrying, shocking, uncomforting thing he had experienced. Dash had broken down, clung to Danny's chest and sobbed like a child.

It was the first time Danny had ever seen him so emotional, and all he could do was try and comfort his sobbing boyfriend, tears silently falling down his own cheeks as well.


	20. Whoa

April had made its way out, and May had barged in, and brought prom season with it. Everyone and their grandma knew that senior prom was a big deal, even Sam, who hated social gatherings, had already picked out a dress. The whole school was filled with anticipation, except for Danny. It's not that he didn't want to go, okay, that's pretty much what it was, but the whole situation left a sour taste in his mouth.

"You sure you don't wanna go?" Dash questioned as they walked down the sidewalk. He was fine with whatever Danny said, but the look in his eyes showed how much he wanted to go. He kept a straight face, not wanting to beg, but Danny could see the way his eyes pleaded.

"I-um…"

Those eyes, they had a way to worm into Danny's mind. He felt bad, especially knowing how badly Dash wanted to go. He thought about it, how bad could it really be?

"Maybe we should go."

"Really?" Dash stopped and clapped his hands on Danny's shoulders, eyes lit up like candles.

"Y-yeah, I mean Sam and Tucker will be there, and I bet Kwan will be too, so I mean yeah."

Dash was ecstatic; the grin on his face was huge. He pulled Danny close and kissed him before grabbing his hand and pulling him down the street.

"Where are we going?"

"Tuxedo shopping."

As much as Danny thought he was going to regret it, the sheer amount of happiness Dash exuded was enough to cheer up anyone. The days ticked away slowly, and Danny had finally given in to the excitement of senior prom. The night was warm, but still pleasant, and the prom was an overall enjoyable experience. Some popular couple won prom king and queen, not that it mattered anyway. The music was good, the food was good, and the company, at least the majority of it, just wanted to have a good time. But the few hours it lasted went by quickly, and soon it was time to head home.

"See, wasn't that fun?" Sam asked as the group was leaving the building.

"Yeah, it was pretty fun." Danny had to admit, he did have a good time.

"Bet you're glad I talked you into it." Dash said, slinging an arm around Danny's shoulder.

"I am, actually."

Finally June had come. The final stretch, the last hoorah, the final countdown. The teachers had to cram to get everything covered, and soon finals were on the horizon. Danny had expected to have the same conversation about not procrastinating with Dash as he did for midterms, but was shocked to see Dash in the library two weeks in advance studying on his own. After quickly checking his pulse, jokingly of course, he decided to go in and help.

The two weeks before the final exams started went by a bit too quickly, and Dash was uncharacteristically nervous about taking them. Danny was a reassuring as he possibly could be, and while it did help, Dash couldn't help but second-guess himself from the time he sat down to the time he handed the test in. Since the seniors started exams early to give them time for graduation rehearsals, they had plenty of time to hang out outside of school. Sam and Tucker had becoming increasingly open to spending time with Dash, to the point where the four of them, and Kwan, who had to tag along lest he feel left out, had managed to agree on one thing to do with a free day they had.

"The beach." Kwan spat out, the other four looking at him, considering their options.

"The beach?" Sam moaned.

"Yeah, the beach." Kwan repeated.

"C'mon Sam, you like the beach." Danny threw out.

"Yeah, in the spring or fall, when I don't get sunburnt while sitting inside a building."

"So we'll bring an umbrella." Tucker joked.

Sam looked around at the group of males staring at her, and boy did she feel the pressure. She supposed she could just bring an umbrella.

"Ugh, fine."

The next day they piled into Kwan's mom's SUV and drove to the beach, which was about a half hour away, but only took 20 minutes because of Kwan's driving style, which Danny likened to him playing a racing game, only without the other racers. All Danny could remember about the ride there was Dash edging Kwan on from the passenger's seat while Sam and Tucker clung to each other, eyes squeezed shut, and Danny himself gripped the handle above the door, which he affectionately referred to as the "Holy shit" handle. Fortunately the ride was over as soon as it had started, and it took the collective strength of a group of teenagers to keep the back seat trio from tongue kissing the ground underfoot.

The beach was pleasingly under crowded that particular day, due to it still technically being the school year, which meant they had claims to any spot they wanted. They settled for somewhere right in the middle, not too close to the water but not too far away. Sam stabbed at the ground with the umbrella, unfolding a chair in the shade it created. She pulled out a book and adjusted her sunglasses.

"You boys have fun."

The day was like one of those sitcom episodes where a group of teenagers go to the beach together. Sam didn't move from her chair, only occasionally glancing up from the book to smirk at the idiots she called friends, Dash and Kwan tried to build a sand castle, only for Danny and Tucker to build a better one, and Tucker ended up falling asleep, leaving him at the mercy of Danny and Dash, who buried his body under the sand, sculpting a mermaid's body over his own. Kwan tried to show off by seeing how far from the shore he could swim, only to end up stubbing his toe on a large rock hidden under the water's surface. Danny and Dash disappeared behind some beach grass for about 5 minutes, but a nosy Kwan interrupted them mid-make out, and they ended up throwing went sand at him in response.

The day eventually came to end though. Sam marked her page and closed the umbrella, the evening sun stinging her pale skin, Tucker had woken up and was eventually unburied, sand having found its way into places sand had no business being, and Danny had begged Dash to drive home instead of Kwan, not wanting to live through the nightmare again. Kwan reluctantly relinquished his keys to the blond, and the drive home wasn't mentally scarring. As they crossed the town line, Danny said something that they all knew, but hadn't really considered.

"Guys, there's only a few days left before we graduate."

"Whoa." Was the universal response.


	21. Commencement

This is it, the end of the line. Normally I don't say anything before a chapter, but I have to take a moment to thank everyone who has read this far. It's been a long journey, writing this fic. I hope you've all enjoyed it as much as I have.

* * *

The day had finally come, the day that every public school student waits for from day one, graduation. The weather forecast, to be blunt, was brutal. Not a cloud in the sky, which meant temperatures were going to be ridiculous. Usually, weather allowing, graduation was held on the school's football field, and this year's would be no exception. Given that it was the day of, the faculty in charge wanted to make sure that everything would go off without a hitch, which meant every senior was expected to attend the rehearsal that morning. The process was tedious, the sun was already bathing the earth in heat, and everyone just wished it was tonight, so they could walk across the stage and make it official. Granted, seniors, impatient ones at that, had a tendency to goof off, there was a serious air about the whole thing. No one, not even the usually show-offs, wanted to be "That Guy" today. Aside from the stifling, almost suffocating heat, the practice had gone by with relative ease, and eventually everyone was allowed to leave for the afternoon.

"I don't know how you do it, Sam." Tucker began a seemingly unprompted tangent.

"Do what?" The goth responded.

"Wear all black on days like this."

"You build up a tolerance to heat."

"Whining works as a coping mechanism, at least in Tucker's case." Danny threw out with a chuckle. The victim of his joke frowned while his girlfriend joined his best friend in a laughing fit. Wiping a tear from his eye, Danny waved to his friends and turned to go meet up with Dash, who had agreed to walk home with him. The two made their way to the parking lot, where a surprise was waiting.

"DASH, HONEY, OVER HERE!" The sound of his mother's voice could be heard over the roar of a V8 engine.

"M-mom?"

Danny took it upon himself to drag his bewildered boyfriend over to the red Mustang that Denise was currently revving the engine of.

"Mom, when did you buy this?"

"Remember last week when I had Kwan's mom take me shopping?"

"Yeah."

"I picked it up this morning."

Dash was about to ask another question when his mother got a devilish grin. She slammed her foot on the gas pedal again, the Ford roaring in response. The muffled sound of a girl screaming could also be just barely made out. When the engine noise had subsided, the girl screamed again.

"My latte!" The voice, who upon further examination belonged to Paulina, shouted. Startled by the sudden booming of the car's engine, the girl had spilt her flavoured beverage all over her new top, and she was not happy about it. She shrieked and threw the remnants on the ground, storming off the other way. Danny tried, and failed, miserably at that, to restrain his laughter, leaning in through the passenger window to high-five Dash's mom. Dash smirked, but still felt kinda of bad. After trying to recollect himself, however, he couldn't help but laugh as well.

"So, why the sudden purchase?" Dash finally asked his mother as the laughter subsided.

"Well, you are graduating today."

"So you bought yourself a car?" Dash tried to wrap his mind around the idea. Denise shot her son a look, before looking at Danny, who actually understood what she meant.

"No, ya dingus, she bought it for you." Danny finally clarified.

"R-really?"

"Yes, honey. You've done so well these past few years that I thought it was about time you had something nice for yourself."

"Aside from me." Danny joked.

"Yes, of course." Denise chuckled. She stepped out from behind the driver's seat and tossed the keys to her son, who was more than happy to accept them.

"But wait, how are you gonna get home?"

"These things have back seats, Dash."

"Yeah but my mom's not gonna wanna squeeze back there."

"Don't worry boys; my ride should be here momentarily."

Almost as if on cue, the low rumble of bass speakers could be heard. Danny could make out words, but he couldn't understand them.

Dash scratched at the back of his head, "Is that…Korean?"

"It's my mom." Kwan, who had appeared out of thin air, told them.

The blaring sound of K-pop music blanketed the parking lot as Kwan's mom rolled up in her Lexus, the one that they had used to go to the beach the previous week.

"SUE!" Denise shouted, waving sporadically.

"HEY DENISE!" Sue screamed back, equally energetically. The SUV rolled to a stop and Dash's mother climbed into the passenger seat. She threw on her seatbelt and both women started belting out horribly inaccurate and out of tune words that they thought fit the lyrics. Sue put the pedal to the medal and the luxury car peeled out of the school parking lot.

"I'm glad I decided to walk home today." Kwan sighed.

The red muscle car pulled into the driveway outside of Dash's house. He tried to drive it a bit more modestly, as to startle the neighbours, but he couldn't help but indulge the gearhead inside him, revving the engine a few times before killing it. He looked over to the passenger seat, where Danny had made himself comfortable. Danny inhaled softly, the combination of Dash's cologne and the scent of new car and leather filled his nostrils.

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me." Dash nudged him.

"I'm not, it's just, relaxing."

"Can't believe my mom bought me a car."

"A BRAND NED car at that."

"Yeah."

"You gonna bring it to school with you?"

"Possibly."

"Well it'll nice if we have transportation, right?"

"Y-yeah."

Danny and Dash had both agreed to go away for college, and had even settled on a college they could both get into without any trouble. Naturally they wanted to be together, at least at this point, but the thought of living together was a bit overwhelming. Danny really felt uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a room with a complete stranger, especially so far away from home, but Dash had no problem meeting new people, and relished the idea of getting to room with someone he could start from scratch with. But Dash knew he'd have a million chances to make new friends, and but his relationship with Danny was the most important thing to him, so he reassured his boyfriend that they would find a way to room together, even if it meant renting an apartment off campus. Dash's train of thought was thrown off by the sound of muffled rap music playing off in the distance, probably from a car that had driven by them.

"What the hell is a 'twerk'?" He heard Danny muffle under his breath.

"What?"

"The car that just drove by, I believe it was a Prius, but that's not important, it was playing a song about something called twerking. What the fuck is twerking?"

"I don't…know?" Dash was at a loss for words.

"I'll look it up later; anyway, what do we do about living somewhere?"

"Why don't we look for apartments?"

"Can we afford that?"

"Well," Dash paused. At this point they couldn't, but his mom would volunteer to pay no matter how much he protested. His mother spoiled him, so she would have to regrets, but at the same time, "We could always get jobs."

"I guess."

"We can go during the summer and look at apartments for rent around school."

"I-I guess we could." Danny pondered. It wasn't that he had second thoughts, but he was just hoping it would all work out.

The two had essentially sat in that car for a couple hours, despite the heat. Dash drove Danny home so they could get ready. Dash's mom had showed up prior to Dash's return, and was already bawling her eyes out before Dash even left, taking a ton of pictures.

Danny's parents, and Jazz, who had arrived earlier in the day, were ready and took their own pictures, although not to the extent that Denise had of Dash.

The senior class was divided alphabetically and placed in rooms where they were to wait for the signal to start proceeding. The anticipation and anxiousness was asphyxiating.

The speeches were less than entertaining, gaining a cheap laugh here and there, but otherwise uninteresting. The first few groups of kids to go up were the so called "gifted" students, not that it mattered at this point. The principal droned out names, kids shifting in their seats, nervous they would miss the cue to go up or that they would trip over their own feet.

Dash waited, he was next. The heat was making him dizzy, he could've sworn that he was wearing a wetsuit filled with Jell-O, and was concerned he hadn't put on enough deodorant. Then he heard his name, and he had to scream at himself mentally not to freeze on stage. He made the small climb, which felt like ascending a mountain, and stopped. He accepted the diploma and turned to look at the other kids graduating with him. So many faces, most of them he didn't know or didn't recognize. Then there were the ones he recognized but wished he didn't, and of course there were those kids who he was glad to have gotten to know. And then, there was Danny. The kid who had started out as his personal punching bag, now the one he couldn't imagine life without. That's when it hit him. He made his way off stage and to his seat.

Danny, being blessed with a letter early in the alphabet, didn't have to do much waiting, not as much as say Sam or Tucker. He made his way onto the stage and looked out over the crowd, their eyes either trained on him, or, as was the case with most of the students, off looking at who knows what, struggling to stay conscious. He looked at Sam, then at Tucker and finally at Kwan, the three people he had come to call friends. His eyes swept the crowd, finally coming to a rest on Dash, who smiled at him. This one person, who just a few years ago had made his life a living hell, had come to represent the good in the world. Danny chuckled inwardly at the irony of this whole situation, making his way off of the stage.

The rest of the ceremony went over with little trouble. Some girl almost tripped in her 6 inch heels, but managed to catch herself before her face hit the top step. The principal gave a few closing words and then the hats soared in the air, cheers propelling them. The field slowly resembled a department store on Black Friday, a herd of people, all talking as loud as they could, trying to navigate through one another. Danny clawed his way out of the crowd and straight his family, who were standing with Dash's mom, who they had apparently gotten to know better during the graduation. They were laughing and talking like long lost best friends.

"Danny, why didn't you tell us that Denise was an absolute joy?" Maddie questioned her son.

"I was too busy trying to get you two to accept her son as my boyfriend for it to come up, I guess."

"Danny, your parents are a riot. I can see where you get your personality."

"Thaaaanks, I think."

Finally an out of breath Dash rounded out the group.

"Man those old ladies are vicious. I think one of them tried to steal my wallet." He gasped out.

"Dash, the Fentons have invited us over this weekend, and I already said we'd be more than glad to join them."

"Yeah, that sounds great, hey, uh, Danny, can-can I talk to you, i-in private?"

"Yeah, sure Dash."

The couple put some distance between their families and Dash looked around to make sure there were no eavesdroppers.

"What's up, Dash?"

"Danny, this past year was the best thing that I could have ever asked for. I never realized what my life was missing until you became a part of it, and now I can't imagine life without you."

"Dash."

"Danny, whatever hard times come in the future, I want us to face them together."

"What are you?"

"Danny, I want us to be together, not just during college. I want you to marry me, not right now, down the road."

"Dash, I…"

"What do you say, Danny, once we've graduated college, will you marry me?"


End file.
